The fix that gave Australia Network contract to ABC

THE ALP national conference on Sunday, without debate, supported the Australia Network as a permanent feature of the ABC.

ON Sunday afternoon, the ALP national conference, without debate, supported the Australia Network as a permanent feature of the ABC, a political fix tied to cabinet's decision the next day.

While Communications Minister Stephen Conroy presided over this fix, at no time did he speak with Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who attended the conference all weekend.

Late on Monday, Conroy announced the cabinet decision and said the Gillard government had hoped the tender process for the Australia Network "would have been completed in good faith". This is a farcical and dishonest statement. Good faith is the absent ingredient in Labor's approach throughout this issue.

Rudd's position is known. He wanted a proper tender process. He believed a tender for the $223 million contract to broadcast to the Asia-Pacific was basic to ensuring performance standards were tested and met.

That view has been rejected by Julia Gillard and Conroy. While this service has been subjected to previous tenders, that process is now abolished while Labor governs.

There is no reason to think Rudd would not have argued against the cabinet decision had he attended the meeting. He left the conference at 3.30pm on Sunday to travel overseas. Under cabinet procedures, if they were followed, his department would have recorded its views.

In mid-2011, the government stripped Rudd's department of responsibility for the process and gave it to Conroy's. The recommendation at that point was for Sky News over the ABC. The Australian has established the government's prime motive at that time was to deny Sky News the contract. The tender was revised, then aborted by Conroy last month on the alleged grounds of a leak. It was reported this process also favoured Sky News (one-third owned by British broadcaster BSkyB, itself controlled by The Australian's owner News Corporation).

The decision to make the Australia Network a permanent feature of the ABC is good for the ABC and bad policy process. It defies performance evaluation, accountability and cost efficiency. It defies the experience when this service has been decided by tender. The saga leaves one narrative: the government wanted the ABC to retain this service and was not prepared to see Sky News win the bid.

Its manipulation was to achieve this outcome. In the end, it broke from the pretence and abandoned the farce.

Paul Kelly regularly appears on Sky News