Our aim in this election was to get as many candidates as possible to complete a questionnaire which lists the six commitments on our national election platform and a seventh related to our campaign for stronger ABC coverage of Geelong, the Bellarine, the Surf Coast and Colac. Ideally we wanted to meet with them so we could explain the rationale for each commitment in detail.
Here’s a report on what happened in Wannon and our rating of all the declared candidates’ support for a well-funded, independent ABC across the country with a stronger ABC presence at the western end of Wannon.
Our questionnaire allowed the candidates to answer Yes, No or Not sure. Those answers correspond to our green, red and amber ‘traffic light’ ratings.
Dan Tehan Liberal Party
Dan declined repeated invitations to speak to ABC Friends and did not respond directly to our questionnaire. While he is not one of those Liberal MPs who regularly attack the ABC, he has no record of voting to support ABC or defend it against funding cuts or partisan attacks. These ratings are based on Liberal Party policy and an email his party’s campaign headquarters sent us. That email didn’t answer all the questions directly, avoided acknowledging the previous Coalition governments’ funding cuts and the question of advertising, and didn’t rule out future cuts based on accusations of inefficiency.
Alex Dyson Independent
We spoke to Alex informally before the campaign began and he expressed strong support for both the ABC in general and our push to improve local coverage. When we sent him the questionnaire he answered Yes to every question and added this summary statement:
“A strong, independent ABC is vital for rural and regional Australians – to inform us, entertain us and keep us safe in time of disaster. Having worked in radio at ABC’s Triple J, I know how important the ABC is for Australians young and old.”
Kate Gazzard The Greens
Kate kindly made time to meet us for a long conversation after the election was called. She filled out the questionnaire by ticking Yes all the way down the page and mentioned that the Greens’ election platform goes even further than ours in support of independent public broadcasting. Kate personally values the ABC’s commitment to objective, factual reporting and would like to see stronger local coverage and community engagement. As a doctor, she is particularly concerned by the spread of misinformation about health issues as well as climate change.
Fiona Mackenzie Labor Party
Despite repeated attempts, we were unable to speak to Fiona. These ratings are based on a response to our election platform from Labor’s head office. The Albanese government has restored some of the funding lost under the Coalition, but not enough to fully rebuild ABC staff and service levels. Labor has been unequivocal in its commitments to keeping the ABC in public hands, free to access and protected against interference. We’ve given Fiona amber ratings on all the funding questions because Labor is heading in the right direction and expressing goodwill but not explicitly agreeing to supply the amount of money ABC Friends, ABC Alumni and the Chairman of the ABC all think is needed.
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