The future of the ABC - Guthrie sacked

Just address the reasons why the ABC shouldn't be in line for a cut. Besides the AbbottAbbottAbbott screeching.
Because the voters did not vote for it. They voted based on no cuts to ABC, SBS, pensions etc.

Labor at least had the Greens to contend with when they brought in a tax... which they said they'd do eventually anyway.

Pretty straightforward stuff.
 

Danny Cullen

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Because the voters did not vote for it. They voted based on no cuts to ABC, SBS, pensions etc.

Labor at least had the Greens to contend with when they brought in a tax... which they said they'd do eventually anyway.

Pretty straightforward stuff.

So the voters decided to vote for the Coalition based on a soundbite on the ABC and SBS the night before the election. Nothing to do with the shambles that the voting public really had in their sights. Sounds plausible.
 
Aug 16, 2006
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It's actually not as bad as you think, since those regional conservative voters are not going to change their vote over this. Cutting the ABC appeals to urban conservative/libertarian voters who actually have another option for the first time ever. Farmers in Southern Cross aren't going to suddenly start voting for the Labor party because of a 5% cut to the ABC.

It is Rural services - such as the Bush Telegraph - that are most effected. So my points stands: in the Coalitions tatty little ideological war against the ABC, it will be its base that are most adversely effected. Whether this is enough to change the vote of rusted on country conservatives we will have to wait and see. They certainly will not give their vote to Labor. But the bush is tired enough of the Liberals taking it for granted that there is a real move toward voting centrist Indies in.
 

Xsess

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Because the voters did not vote for it. They voted based on no cuts to ABC, SBS, pensions etc.

Are you implying the audience watching the obscure broadcast on SBS where Abbott made his infamous no cuts comment was so large and the issue so profound that it altered the voting intentions of Australia? Most Australians would have been more familiar with the Hockey comments on primetime Q&A where ABC cuts were left very much on the table.
 
Are you implying the audience watching the obscure broadcast on SBS where Abbott made his infamous no cuts comment was so large and the issue so profound that it altered the voting intentions of Australia? People wouldn't have even known about it.
The issue is very important. Hence the large amount of commentary.
 
So the voters decided to vote for the Coalition based on a soundbite on the ABC and SBS the night before the election. Nothing to do with the shambles that the voting public really had in their sights. Sounds plausible.
This is a new one.

People didn't vote for the LNP, they voted against Labor. Therefore the LNP has no reason to honour a single promise made to the voting public?

A truly novel reading of the situation.
 
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Are you implying the audience watching the obscure broadcast on SBS where Abbott made his infamous no cuts comment was so large and the issue so profound that it altered the voting intentions of Australia? Honestly 99.9% of Australians wouldn't have known about it much less cared.

The SBS interview was not the first and only time this promise was made. He also stood under a billboard - complete with his own signature - pledging no cuts to the ABC or SBS on various occasions throughout the election campaign. Here he is during the election campaign standing under a list of pledges he will go on to break:

WjnNFY9.jpg
 
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So you actually want to continue on with the nanny state mentality by removing the last semblences of people's privacy.

You have zero rights to know what others earn.
Absolutely. If tax is going to become voluntary, then we ought to know who is contributing and who is free riding. Can't have it both ways.
 
5% off a $1.2b budget in this economic climate is a non issue.
It's an issue because Abbott said he wouldn't cut the ABC.

I'd dare say it's also an issue to those who have lost their jobs because of the cuts.
 
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Just address the reasons why the ABC shouldn't be in line for a cut. Besides the AbbottAbbottAbbott screeching.

Because it's an ideological cut. It has to do with the Coalitions paranoid hatred of the ABC along political lines. The effects of these cuts will be most felt by those in Rural Australia. That is, people who rely on important public services like the Bush Telegraph. Rather than making small savings through slashing important public services and cutting jobs, I would rather see serious revenue made through a serious tax being put in place for mining companies making billions out of our non-renewable resources.
 
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Danny Cullen

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This is a new one.

People didn't vote for the LNP, they voted against Labor. Therefore the LNP has no reason to honour a single promise made to the voting public?

A truly novel reading of the situation.

I'm just pondering what your thoughts on the ABC would be if they decided to venture into your market courtesy of the taxpayer teat. They are perfectly capable and have the dosh.
 
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pokerspiv

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It is Rural services - such as the Bush Telegraph - that are most effected. So my points stands: in the Coalitions tatty little ideological war against the ABC, it will be its base that are most adversely effected. Whether this is enough to change the vote of rusted on country conservatives we will have to wait and see. They certainly will not give their vote to Labor. But the bush is tired enough of the Liberals taking it for granted that there is a real move toward voting centrist Indies in.

That's rubbish. There's no way in hell country conservatives will vote for anybody except the Nats or Liberals. The Liberals know that, and they don't really give a toss what country voters think because they don't need to.

And the ABC claiming that it's all everyone's most favourite programs that will face cuts is pure bullshit politics itself. Americans call it "Washington Monument Syndrome". I.E. Whenever someone proposes a tax or funding cut, opponents will claim they will have to close down extremely popular publicly funded programs (like the Washington monument). The prospect that spending could be cut in less popular programs is buried.

That sort of cynicism is exactly what the ABC was engaging in when it claimed that cuts would force it to get rid of extremely popular programs like Peppa Pig etc. That won't happen, of course. More likely they will just lay a few back office staff off and cut some of the more expensive sports coverage that nobody watches.
 
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rodney hoo

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That's rubbish. There's no way in hell country conservatives will vote for anybody except the Nats or Liberals. The Liberals know that, and they don't really give a toss what country voters think because they don't need to.

And the ABC claiming that it's all everyone's most favourite programs that will face cuts is pure bullshit politics itself. Americans call it "Washington Monument Syndrome". I.E. Whenever someone proposes a tax or funding cut, opponents will claim they will have to close down extremely popular publicly funded programs (like the Washington monument). The prospect that spending could be cut in less popular programs is buried.

That sort of cynicism is exactly what the ABC was engaging in when it claimed that cuts would force it to get rid of extremely popular programs like Peppa Pig etc. That won't happen, of course. More likely they will just lay a few back office staff off and cut some of the more expensive sports coverage that nobody watches.

I think if you look at the Gillard government the balance was held by to independents in country seats. The bush is fed up with the liberals & the country party coping it up the arse.
 

Danny Cullen

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I think if you look at the Gillard government the balance was held by to independents in country seats. The bush is fed up with the liberals & the country party coping it up the arse.

Would that be the two who bailed out before the last election because they knew that they were going to get smashed in the election? Those two?
 

rodney hoo

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Would that be the two who bailed out before the last election because they knew that they were going to get smashed in the election? Those two?

Those 2, one had held the seat for 10plus years, and one around 20 and would have won it again if had not retired. They both did more in their seat than the coalition ever did that's why they kept getting re elected.
 

mottrain

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I think if you look at the Gillard government the balance was held by to independents in country seats. The bush is fed up with the liberals & the country party coping it up the arse.
What was the result of that????
 
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That's rubbish. There's no way in hell country conservatives will vote for anybody except the Nats or Liberals. The Liberals know that, and they don't really give a toss what country voters think because they don't need to.

Agreed. The bolded paints a perfect picture of the morality of the Liberal Party.
 

AM

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In the end, governments come and go but the ABC goes on - in one form or another. As it should. And it's needed more than ever in order to provide objectivity and balance as the Dirty Diggers conglomerate moves toward being little more than a propagandist outlet for the plutocracy. Rather than producing any form of serious journalism.
 
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