Promise check: No cuts to the ABC

Updated

On the eve of the September 2013 election, Tony Abbott promised that there would be no cuts to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation under a Coalition government.

During a live interview with SBS from Penrith football stadium, Mr Abbott said: "No cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS."

Assessing the promise

This promise was broken when the Government announced cuts to the ABC worth $35.5 million over four years in the 2014-15 budget, as well as announcing the termination of the ABC's Australia Network contract, saving the Government $197 million over nine years.

Further cuts of $254 million over five years were announced in November 2014, and smaller ones in the 2016-17 budget.

Here's how the promise tracked:





Topics: television-broadcasting, radio-broadcasting, broadcasting, information-and-communication, media, abbott-tony, federal-government, liberals, australia

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