GetUp members at events to protect the ABC and SBS over the weekend
NEVILLE,
Yesterday, the Abbott Government’s axe fell hard upon the ABC and SBS. Funding cuts of $254 million over five years will mean Lateline and Australian Story will be gutted, five Radio National shows will go, more than 400 people – 10% of the staff – could lose their jobs, and more than 100 staff lost from the ABC News division.1
Before the election, there was nothing more offensive to Tony Abbott than a broken promise. Now, after insisting the night before we went to the ballot box we’d see “no cuts to the ABC or SBS”2, this announcement flies in the face of his supposed moral outrage, and stands as a betrayal of our beloved public broadcaster from a government with an axe to grind.
The extent of the cuts were shocking, but for GetUp members like you, sadly, they don’t come as a surprise. We’ve been campaigning against these cuts all year, and in the last fortnight alone we’ve responded in force – calling Cabinet Ministers and MPs, and rallying in cities and towns across the country, alongside our friends at Community and Public Sector Union, Friends of the ABC, and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. As a movement, we’ve created a media buzz and backlash estimated to have been seen by more than 8 million Australians. GetUp members have been fighting to protect the ABC at every turn for eight years, and we’re not stopping any time soon.
We’ve got a plan to make sure Tony Abbott – as well as every voter, every MP in a marginal electorate – finds his broken promise on ABC cuts impossible to forget.
Watch this video, share it far and wide – and if you can, chip in – to make sure it’s seen by as many people as possible:
For so many of us, the ABC is an invaluable companion, a trusted source of information, an Aunty, an essential service in a time of natural disaster or need. It’s one of so few Australian media outlets that is free of commercial interests, and free to remain fair and independent.
If we let the Abbott Government get away with damning cuts without resounding public outrage, we could see the risk to the ABC and SBS continue to rise. It’s up to us to make sure this government doesn’t think it can get away with decimating funds again in the future, or threatening the ABC with further cuts, simply because they ran stories that weren’t to their taste.
Although Mr Abbott broke his election promise and cut the ABC and SBS, the efforts from GetUp members and community groups in the last fortnight are making this betrayal unforgettable. Over the last fortnight alone:
- More than 200 GetUp members called Cabinet Ministers, and told them that any government who cuts funds for the ABC and SBS has lost their vote.
- Another 200 called ALP Ministers and urged them to re-commit the funds to public broadcasting if elected at the next Federal Election.
- Thousands of us rallied alongside the CPSU, the MEAA and ABC Friends in cities and towns around the country, with the story covered in dozens of primetime news stories, countless local news outlets and estimated to be seen by more than 8 million Australians in total.
- GetUp members helped collect signatures for our petition to protect the ABC, which has now been signed by over a quarter of a million Australians.
We know the Coalition Government are feeling the heat from a community outraged. One Liberal MP even admitted that Mr Abbott likely regrets making a promise he had planned to break.3
There couldn’t be a better time to get our message out. Right now, the Abbott Government is more vulnerable than they’ve ever been in the polls4 – they know they can’t afford to lose supporters nor swing voters who love and support strong funding for the ABC.5
Many voters don’t know about the ABC cuts, and that the Abbott Government has broken its election-eve promise to the Australian public. But we can change that.
Click here to watch and share a video that shows Mr Abbott’s broken promise to his voters on the ABC and SBS – and chip in if you can.
GetUp members have been fighting to protect the ABC since the beginning of our movement, and that’s not about to change. Thank you for standing up for quality, independent journalism time and time again.
Let’s keep fighting to keep the bastards honest. Thank you for being part of the campaign.
Kelsey, Sally, Sam, Alycia and the GetUp team
PS – If you have a personal story about why the ABC matters to you, how it was there for you in a time of need or how it’s had a significant impact on your life, we would love to hear from you. We’d like to find some powerful stories from our membership to share with the media and use in the campaign. Click here to tell us your noteworthy story
References
[1] ABC cuts: Managing director Mark Scott announces more than 400 jobs to go, ABC News, 24 November 2014
[2] No cuts to the ABC or SBS: Abbott, SBS News, 30 January 2014
[3] ABC cuts: Tony Abbott probably regrets pledging to spare ABC from cuts, Liberal MP say, ABC News Online, 25 November 2014.
[4] Poll Bludger: Obama-Xi deal spoilt Abbott’s hoped-for G20 bounce, Crikey, 21 November 2014
[5] Essential: pensions, ABC cuts and what an ‘other’ voter looks like, Crikey, 23 April 2014
