ABC Managing Director Mark Scott has just finishing addressing his staff at the ABC headquarters in Ultimo, Sydney, concerning the losses the national broadcaster will have to endure to accommodate the government’s $254 million budget cuts over the next five years.
It’s anticipated that up to 400 people could lose their jobs, which is close to 10% of the network’s current workforce. Ten per cent of those cuts will be to management positions.
“We regard the changes as vital to securing the long-term health of the organisation,” said Scott, “but I acknowledge that is no comfort to those who will lose their positions.”
The Adelaide production studio that Christopher Pyne last week petitioned to save will also face closure, as part of a larger move to focus TV production in Sydney and Melbourne. Small regional radio posts in Wagin, Morwell, Gladstone, Nowra and Port Augusta will similarly be closed down, as will remaining non-news TV production in other states.
Scott also addressed the scaling back of the ABC’s involvement in sports broadcasting to focus more on national events, while also confirming that nightly instalments of Stateline (regional editions of 7:30) will be replaced by an end-of-the-week edition; Lateline will also move to ABC News 24 and a new Beirut bureau has been added to the broadcaster’s international bureaux to expand coverage in the Middle East.
