ABC to make budget decisions in 10 days

THE ABC will be reviewing the future of programs such as Fact Check in coming days after funding announcements in the budget.

New ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie appears before a Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee at Parliament House, Canberra.

THE ABC will be reviewing the future of programs such as Fact Check in coming days after funding announcements in the federal budget.

New Managing Director Michelle Guthrie said “adjustments” will have to be made, but the public broadcaster is still going through the budget implications.

The federal government announced $3.1 billion in funding over the next three years in Tuesday’s budget, but a reduced investment of $41.4 million for enhanced newsgathering.

Ms Guthrie said the funding, in a tight fiscal environment, will enable the ABC to continue many news initiatives, such as the national reporting team.

But there will need to be changes.

“We will aim to minimise the audience and programming impact with a clear intent to protect local and regional coverage,” she said, revealing decisions will be made in the next 10 days or so. Ms Guthrie, who officially took up the job on Monday, said it is important to make the ABC relevant to all citizens.

“We must extend our reach and our relevance into areas where we are under-represented,” she said.

“That means more diversity in both our staff and our content.” In her first appearance before Senate estimates, the managing director faced criticism from both Labor and the coalition.

The ABC’s Fact Check website.

Opposition senator Sam Dastyari attempted to grill Ms Guthrie on a Fairfax Media report about the corporate history of one of the ABC’s board members Kirstin Ferguson at Leighton Holdings.

Ms Guthrie repeatedly batted away questions about allegations Dr Ferguson failed to protect a whistleblower who alerted her to a corruption scandal, saying she would not reveal board discussions. Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, who has a private member’s bill before parliament for greater provisions for regional content and board representation, quizzed management about how many people it sent to the Cannes Film Festival.

ABC Chief Operating Officer David Pendleton revealed $148,000 was spent last year on 10 representatives.

He said the majority of people attending were from the broadcaster’s commercial arm and were selling ABC content, with more sold than was spent.

Mr Pendleton said the length of their stays varied, as did the class of their flights.

“A number of people will tack on trips at the end,” he admitted. “I bet they do,” Senator McKenzie replied.

“Heading over to Cannes and I might just spend a couple of weeks on the riviera.” Ms Guthrie confirmed livestock market reports will be brought back following feedback from peak farming groups.

Originally published as ABC to make budget decisions in 10 days