ABC chief David Anderson says funding freeze pleas failed

ABC managing director warns staff that efforts to undo a funding freeze have failed.

ABC managing director David Anderson. Picture: John Feder.

ABC managing director David Anderson has warned staff the national broadcaster faces a $14.6 million “cut” to its budget from the start of the new financial year after the re-election of the Coalition.

Mr Anderson told staff on Monday morning that a “budget challenge” was looming after his lobbying efforts in Canberra to reverse a freeze on indexation to its $1 billion budget was ignored, according to a report by The Guardian.

“Despite extensive requests from the ABC, the budget papers locked in the $83.7m pause in indexation funding flagged in last year’s budget,” Mr Anderson told staff in an email.

“I have said many times over the past seven months that our focus must always be on freeing up as much money as possible for content, adapting what we do to ensure we spend public funds effectively while searching for efficiencies.”

The freeze will mean ABC does not get the $14.6 million it expected this year, as well as other inflation-linked increases over the following two years totalling $83.7 million.

Mr Anderson said the freeze was on top of $254 million the ABC had been forced to save in efficiency measures over the past five years.

Mr Anderson, who was confirmed as chief executive earlier this month after acting in the role since Michelle Guthrie was fired last September, warned earlier this month that job cuts were “inevitable” if the budget freeze was implemented. He was also criticised for saying that an Labor victory was “ obvious­ly a much better scenario for us” because the Opposition had promised to reverse the freeze and give the ABC another $40 million.

Mr Anderson has previously lobbied Canberra to extend the ABC funding cycle from three years to five.

A review ordered by Communications Minister Mitch Fifield and carried out by communications bureaucrat Richard Bean and the former chief executive of News Corp and Foxtel, Peter Tonagh, reportedly concluded that the ABC needed long-term funding certainty.”

In his memo, Mr Anderson said he would resume discussions about securing longer-term funding arrangements.

An ABC spokesman was not available for comment.