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November 26, 2014
Your independent local newspaper
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Issue 96
Ph: 4325 7369
Instant protest against ABC and SBS cuts ver 65 people turned out in Gosford on Monday, November 24, to protest the Abbott Government’s recently announced budget cuts to the ABC and SBS.
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The rapidly organised protest took place outside the ABC 92.5 studios in Gosford at 8am, with approving horn beeps from passing drivers on their way to work. Event organiser Mr Jack Lloyd said he was pleased with the turnout. “To get so many people early on a Monday morning really speaks to the widespread anger at these cuts,” he said. “Tony Abbott said there would be no cuts, and now he is cutting a quarter of a billion dollars.” The assembly was addressed by local Friends of the ABC chapter president Mr Klaas Woldring. “How is it possible that a
“The ABC keeps us thinking, it is vital for the life of our community,” said Labor candidate for Gosford Ms Kathy Smith. Labor candidate for Terrigal Mr Jeff Sundstrom said: “ABC is a national institution, it’s not just about Bananas in Pyjamas, it’s a vital news source.” “When you cut the ABC, our democracy loses out,” he said. The protest echoes similar rallies held over the weekend in Sydney and Melbourne. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten attended the Melbourne Rally. “Our ABC has always been here for us,” said Mr Shorten. “It is now time for us to be there for the ABC,” he said. Mr Lloyd agreed: “The Central Coast is behind the ABC, and I’m glad we could show that today.” mature nation like Australia with good education ends up with this kind of government?” he asked the
crowd. “It is ridiculous that we have a government that is so dishonest, so
opportunistic, and so absolutely incompetent,” said Mr Woldring. The rally was also
attended by the Central Coast Labor candidates for the upcoming state election.
Media release, 24 Nov 2014 Patrick Norman
ABC Radio safe for now S
enator for NSW Deborah O’Neill said she feared the Central Coast would once again bear the brunt of the Abbott Government’s cost slashing after ABC managing director Mark Scott revealed the region would not be immune from cuts to the national broadcaster.
Mr Scott told a Senate Estimates Committee hearing he could not guarantee the Central Coast’s vital ABC hub would escape the $254 million funding cuts Tony Abbott
has planned across the organisation . Senator O’Neill said that this was a unique service where commercial radio was just not a viable alternative. “The ABC doesn’t just
provide news, current affairs and entertainment for the people of the Central Coast, it is the community’s go-to network for important safety and emergency information. “In a little over a year,
Tony Abbott has gone from telling Australians there would be ‘no cuts to the ABC or SBS’ to slashing more than half a billion dollars from our national broadcasters. “The region covered by ABC Central Coast is geographically, culturally and economically distinct from metropolitan Sydney
to the south and Newcastle to the north. “It serves an audience of more than 300,000 people, and it’s time our community let Tony Abbott know what we think of his twisted priority to cut such a vital information highway on the Coast,” she said. The launch of the new ABC Radio Central
Coast studio, scheduled for November 20, was postponed with no new launch date scheduled as yet. Media release, 24 Nov 2014 Richard Mehrtens, office of Deborah O’Neill Email, 20 Nov 2014 Angela Scrymgour, ABC