The decision to axe regional ABC facilities is a political one used to inflict pain on Coalition electorates, a government MP has told Guardian Australia.
The ABC managing director, Mark Scott, made an all-staff announcement earlier on Monday to outline how the public broadcaster would absorb the $254m funding cut handed down by the Coalition government.
Among the measures are the closing of five regional offices – in Port Augusta in South Australia, Nowra in New South Wales, Gladstone in Queensland, Morwell in Victoria and Wagin in Western Australia.
Rowan Ramsay, the Liberal member for Grey, which covers Port Augusta, has slammed Scott and the ABC board for the cut to regional electorates, which are Coalition strongholds.
“It’s difficult not to think that they’re trying to cause as much pain to the Coalition as possible,” Ramsay told Guardian Australia. All five offices slated for closure fall in Coalition-held seats.
“I’m very disappointed that they’ve taken the low-hanging fruit,” Ramsay said, adding that the ABC cannot expect to be a “holy cow” and escape government-wide efficiencies."
Liberal MP Ian Macdonald said the cuts should have been absorbed by ABC head office.
“ABC Ultimo is a bloated bastion of broadcasting bureaucrats who have had their snouts in the public trough for far too long. It’s time they took their cuts, rather than shifting the pain onto others,” he said.
“There’s no question that the government’s cuts to the ABC are a broken promise and the government stands condemned for that,” South Australian independent senator Nick Xenophon said.
“Mark Scott needs to understand that, while he can’t control by how much the ABC is cut, he can control where it bleeds.”
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The cuts to regional services are Mark Scott's own little lefty power games.There is plenty of mindless rubbish that could be cut but they decide to hit where it would cause the most pain to ordinary Australians in order to whip up outrage against the government.
