ABC staff told to brace for cuts

Staff warned to brace for cuts, with it needing to find $14.6m in savings in the next financial year.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson. Picture: Hollie Adams

ABC staff have been warned to brace for cuts following Scott Morrison’s shock election win, with the national broadcaster needing to find $14.6 million in savings in the next financial year.

Managing director David Anderson told staff yesterday a “budget challenge” was looming after his lobbying efforts in Canberra to reverse a freeze on indexation to its $1 billion budget were ignored.

The ABC will not receive $83.7m in budget increases over the next three years after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg last month confirmed a freeze on increases linked to inflation.

The freeze was announced in the 2017-18 budget by Mr Morrison as treasurer in the Turnbull government.

Mr Anderson, who was confirmed as managing director this month after acting in the role since Michelle Guthrie was fired last September, had earlier warned that cuts to jobs and services were “inevitable” if the budget freeze was implemented.

His comments on ABC radio, after he was confirmed in the role, that a Labor victory was ­“obviously a much better scenario for us” were seen as a partisan ­intervention in the election ­campaign.

Labor had promised to reverse the indexation freeze and vowed during the campaign to provide a further $60m to public broadcasters, including $40m for the ABC.

Mr Anderson was confirmed in the role during the election campaign by chairman Ita Buttrose, who was installed by Mr Morrison in place of Justin Milne after the Prime Minister overturned a ­selection process to appoint someone he described as a friend.

In an email to staff yesterday, Mr ­Anderson said the ABC faced cuts to its budget of $14.6m from July as a result of the indexation freeze.

“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 said.

“The cut comes into effect at the start of the next financial year, with a first-year impact of $14.6m. This is on top of the $254m the ABC has had to absorb in ­efficiency cuts over the past five years. 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.”

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

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 former chief executive of News Corp and Foxtel Peter ­Tonagh, reportedly concluded that the ABC needed long-term funding certainty.

The report has not been released

In his memo Mr Anderson said he would resume discussions about securing longer-term funding arrangements. “Stable funding is essential to deliver a greater level of financial certainty and enable us to plan for the future,” he said.

An ABC spokesman was not available for comment.