By NOEL MURPHY
GEELONG’S new ABC bureau faces the chop less than 12 months after it opened.
Federal Government cuts of $70 million for the ABC have put the future of the Geelong bureau and its two journalists under a cloud.
The previous Labor government established the bureau in August under an 18-month contract.
State shadow regional minister Jacinta Allan lashed out at the Canberra funding cuts.
Ms Allan said ABC regional radio played an important role for communities “as an emergency broadcaster and a provider of local community information and news”.
She called on other state MPs to stand up to Canberra’s “attacks” on regional ABC services.
“The ABC provides a vital service to regional Victoria yet Tony Abbott is planning to take the Liberal axe to it,” she said in a written statement.
A spokesperson for Ms Allan said: “We’re unsure what will happen for the Geelong post but obviously there’s concern if it does get the chop”.
The Federal Government cut $43.5 million from the ABC in its 2014 budget. An ongoing review, Project 21, has flagged another $70 million in savings by outsourcing programming and a one-off $90 million windfall from the sale of production facilities.
The Geelong bureau opened with a clutch of Labor politicians, including Senator Kate Lundy and local MPs Richard Marles and Darren Cheeseman, welcoming its arrival.
The bureau was financed with $227,000 in Labor funding.
Prior to the arrival of the ABC Geelong relied on Melbourne, Ballarat and Warrnambool for the ABC’s radio news service.
The Government’s communications spokesman in the Senate, Mitch Fifield, rejected claims the ABC would have to cut programs under the funding review.
“Any suggestion at all that popular programs or services are at risk because of budget savings are completely absurd,” he said.
Senator Fifield has defended the review, arguing public broadcasters are unaccountable for their spending, unlike commercial networks.
