Considering taxpayers subsidize the ABC with over 1 Billion dollars per year, maybe this needs to be cut back.

Not sure how much SBS gets from taxpayers.

The ABC and SBS have spent over $500,000 of YOUR money on lavish dinners and functions in the past 12 months

The ABC and SBS have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars on extravagant dinners and functions in the last year.

The two organisations have collectively contributed $507,898 towards the Department of Communications and Arts $1.5 million hospitality bill.

One of the plush events included a 'drama showcase' hosted by SBS at Canberra's Parliament House for parliamentarians.

More splurges included two $20,000 ABC community forums the organisation held in order to meet their end of a government deal.

At one event hosted by the ABC at its Sydney headquarters, Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon was on the menu at a board industry event - which retails at $41.99 a bottle.

A department spokeswoman told The Herald Sun the event spending was within its rules, while the ABC also said it complied with their hospitality policies.

'SBS engages regularly with diverse stakeholders through a range of forums that assist in improving understanding of the communities,' a spokeswoman for the media organisation said.

'We also provide valuable opportunities to increase awareness of our content and services, all in service of our charter,' she said.

The opening of the government-supported community hub Artbank in Melbourne was the most expensive event billed to the department.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6740325/The-ABC-SBS-spent-500-000-taxpayers-money-events-year.html

Yeah. That's the ABC. But, despite the constant criticism of the outdated, unneccessary organisation, which is pretty much non-stop, nothing is done about it, nor will anything ever be done about it, thanks to our gutless political class. I appreciate that you do your best to liven up the Forum with something other than puerile Leftish trolling, Philip, but you are whipping a dead horse on this one. Even Tony Abbott let us down on the ABC. And, now that what is left of the Coalition seems to be putting Opposition policies into place in the pathetic belief that it will get them votes, there is even less chance of common sense prevailing.

No chance of the rorting & misuse of public monies to end anytime soon. Common sense & integrity have been educated out of those in the decision making circles.

Budget 2018 ABC funding has been cut by $84 million.
At the same time Foxtel was handed $30 million.
The cost to the Australian taxpayer for the ABC
was approx. 12 cents a day. And look at what we get:

http://www.fabcnsw.org.au/fabc/about_abc.php

The various events and dinners were undoubtedly an attempt to
garner support and publicity - so desperately needed.

yep and the overpaid political commentators will bang on about the salaries of others. Thats socialism for you. The average worker would love the pay of those pushing the feminist/marxist dogma.

I wonder how much do people like Andrew Bolt,
Alan Jones, Peta Credlin, et al make? And who
supports them? Quid pro Quo.

Still it is great that in this country we do have
a variety of opinions. Ain't it grand?

You are not that daft surely, Foxy. The rest of us know that the people you mention work in private enterprise; they are not paid by taxpayers. Even so, they can be read or listened to free of charge; and if you don't want pay for more by buying Murdoch papers or Sky, you don't have to - unlike your ABC.

yep the abc supports and promotes murderous organisations like these if you have the stomach to read.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/02/25/we-talked-to-former-planned-parenthood-workers-their-stories-are-chilling/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tds-fb&fbclid=IwAR39Z_KHyj7TiC6LhSflGy7ECLs0fRa3KE8k2kXn_hxHNgtzmoC9IVxcU1g

meanwhile they dine at taxpayer expense. No wonder Trump speaks of draining the swamp.

like Andrew Bolt,
Alan Jones, Peta Credlin, et al make?
Foxy,
As most such people they're overpaid also but, they're in private enterprise not hanging of the public funding apron like those in the ABC & public service.

Dear individual,

So we learned that the ABC and SBS between them had a combined hospitality bill for the year of $500,000 however Julie Bishop managed to rack up $1.2 million dollar expenses bill including movie premiers and polo matches over the same amount of time. That is just a single government minister.

Yet not a single bloody peep from you. It seems it is not the spend that matters to you but rather that you loathe our public broadcasters.

probably a fair point Steelie. The more regressive someone is in ideology the more they seem to like spending tax payer money. If I remember Kevin Rudd did a similar thing when Julie wanted him out of the country. The swamp certainly spreads across the parties. I wonder if our beloved Greens woman has takern anymore sickies to take her kids on holidays.

Steele Redux,
Show me one (1) post where I condoned Bishop's being & doing !

oh btw steelie I think Bishop was probably a little nicer to the air stewards than the fould mouthed Rudd who was known to go off at the drop of the hat.

Foxy Quote "The various events and dinners were undoubtedly an attempt to garner support and publicity - so desperately needed."

** If they delivered what the public wanted they would not need to do what you suggest the money was used for, the public would be onto the politicians if they tried to de fund them. **

SteeleRedux Quote "Julie Bishop managed to rack up $1.2 million dollar expenses bill including movie premiers and polo matches over the same amount of time. That is just a single government minister.

Yet not a single bloody peep from you. It seems it is not the spend that matters to you but rather that you loathe our public broadcasters."

** Notice how SteeleRedux can't comment on the article but tries to divert the discussion**
** Show me the article and I will put it up. But why don't you do it instead of criticize others. **

Philip S.,

The public supports the ABC - read the link
I gave earlier. And, the government who defunded
the ABC - is currently fighting for its political
life.

Foxy,
Doesn't say much for the ABC to resort to vindictiveness because this Govt expects them to tighten their belts, does it ?

Foxy - You and your links.

Gee I wonder why you say Quote "The public supports the ABC - read the link I gave earlier."

** YEP that is going to be unbiased. **

Simple fact is they do not have the support of the public.
_________________________________
Under the heading "Who We Are"
The Friends of the ABC (NSW) Inc., now known as ABC Friends NSW & ACT was established in 1976 in response to the funding cuts put in place by the Fraser Coalition government. In April of the same year a similar group formed in Melbourne where they took the name 'Aunty's Nieces and Nephews'. Since then, the Friends has defended the ABC against threats from both Labor and Coalition governments to compromise its independence and reduce its funding.

ABC Friends is not aligned to any political party, but is a lobby group that works on behalf of listeners and viewers of ABC radio and television to support the ABC (Click here for things you can do to help).

All office holders (click here for a list) are unpaid volunteers. This allows us to use the funds collected through membership, donations and events for campaigning and activities for members.

ABC Friends organisations throughout Australia cooperate to achieve the common objectives of fighting for the ABC and for its editorial independence. We support national initiatives including letter writing campaigns and lobbying of individual members of parliament.

For a national perspective on the structure, aims and objectives of ABC Friends click here.

We do not slavishly support everything that the ABC does and it is our policy to criticise the ABC when we consider that it has strayed from its charter or acted in a way that could jeopardise its long term future.

** Could not find anywhere how many actual members they have, for all we know you may be the only one. **
_____________________________________________________

Watching Leigh sales a couple of nights ago interviewing the PM, I could hardly believe my ears how she tried to entrap him rather than listen to his explanations as should be the job of a reporter. Reporters are no longer reporting, they force their opinions !

Any politician not from the Left needs his or her head examined if they subject themselves to a grilling from ABC reporters. They know they are not going to get a fair go, yet they still front up. They are too silly to attract sympathy.

Philip S.,

If you've got evidence that disclaims the
Annual Report
given in my link please provide your evidence.
Because the overview given in the Report contradicts
your opinion. And if we're going with opinions -
I'll take the Report which is based on researched facts.
According to the given Report - in it's overview -
80% of Australians support the ABC. 83% of
Australians believe that the ABC performs a valuable role.
81% of Australians believe that ABC TV provides good
quality programming and 85% of weekly viewers believe
ABC news and current affairs on TV is fair and balanced.
And there's more in the Report. However, please show us
the evidence to back up your claims. And also your
statement that the ABC is biased - also needs to be proven.
No evidence, no claim.

They know they are not going to get a fair go, yet they still front up. They are too silly to attract sympathy.
ttbn,
Yes, it's so obvious yet they keep walking into the trap, why, your'e right not bright enough !
I just wish some of them would read OLO, they could learn a lot here.
Anyhow, it's too late to vote for the Coalition, Conservative independents are our only hope !
Cormann & Dutton were the last straw for me. And, of course Centrelink & ATO.

'Any politician not from the Left needs his or her head examined if they subject themselves to a grilling from ABC reporters. They know they are not going to get a fair go, yet they still front up. They are too silly to attract sympath'

I think you are right ttbn. True conservatives need to be schooled by Trump. He has revealed the leftist media as the dishonest, lying bunch that they are.

Ol' Ita will pull them into line ! But, as soon as they realise she's competent they'll dump her.

I hope that Ita can reform the ABC. It will be very difficult to dislodge the entrenched extreme left.

Armchair Critic- What's your issue with Dutton and Cormann?? I had a look at the news and there were a couple of things but I'm still not sure. I think Dutton's comment about the asylum seekers being expensive in terms of hospital care and housing is a valid and often neglected aspect of left policy.

Canem Malum,
It was I who referred to them for the simple reason that my family is being ruined by the policies of those two.

Foxy Anyone with half a brain can pick out the bias in the ABC just by watching and by seeing how audiences are stacked in favor of one side.

Thanks Individual for your correction...

I agree that in order to move away from Liberalism and towards Traditionalism we need to sponsor more politicians with this view in the senate. It seems that these two are two of the few within the LNP that appear to have similar views to us. I'd be interested in the reasons for your disappointment- sometimes I'm slightly out of date with the news.

It seems that these two are two of the few within the LNP that appear to have similar views to us.
Canem Malum,
I thought so too however, since I have had to deal with their Departments my perception has done a 180.

Individual- I understand Dutton's department has issues with the split between the immigration and customs people- I expect that there must be open warfare in the offices.

I realise the Minister can't keep an eye on everyone of their public servants, that's why they need to have more sensible policies yet the Ministers aren't acting on sorting the incompetence in their Departments.
I think it'd be a smart move for Departments to have a "dob in a useless Public Servant" arrangement so as to give integrity within the Dept to get a foot in the door.
Perhaps there should be permanent force within the Public Service that does continuous checks on incompetence & misappropriation.
The hours lost just from public servants on Facebook & Solitaire & Gumtree & Ebay is unbelievable !
Meanwhile decent folk are waiting for queries being sorted.

Dear runner,

Trump, lying and dishonest are three words which go seemlessly together.

Beautiful.

Learn something new everyday, I didn't know he was Labor ?

Foxy what is your opinion on this secret deal? After all we taxpayer are paying it.

The government has put the ABC on notice that it expects the broadcaster to declare how much taxpayer's money was used to pay its thus-far confidential settlement with sacked managing director Michelle Guthrie.

In a position backed by prominent former staff and other political parties, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said on Sunday he expected transparency on the payout given the involvement of taxpayer funds.

Ms Guthrie, an ex-Google executive, filed an adverse action claim in the Federal Court in December after she was was fired from her $900,000-a-year role halfway through her five-year contract.

She was paid an $800,000 termination fee when she was fired and through the court action sought remedies including compensation.

Late on Friday, the ABC and Ms Guthrie announced in a joint three-sentence statement that they had reached a "resolution" over this litigation after being ordered into mediation by the court.

Neither party revealed any details about what this agreement involved and have refused to answer questions about it.

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson said any payment should come out of the ABC’s current $1 billion-a-year budget.

"It’s not up to the taxpayer to further fund her sacking ... it should be exposed," Ms Hanson said.

"I don’t believe it should remain confidential ... When it’s coming out of taxpayers’ dollars they deserve to know exactly how much is being paid."

Helen Grasswill, the co-director of advocacy group ABC Alumni that includes hundreds of former staff members and will also front the inquiry this week, urged the public broadcaster to provide more transparency around the settlement.

http://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/should-be-made-public-abc-rebuked-for-secret-michelle-guthrie-settlement-20190303-p511fg.html

"It’s not up to the taxpayer to further fund her sacking ... it should be exposed," Ms Hanson said.
Philip S,
Pauline is right !

rewards for incompetence. Wasn't she a Turnbull pick.

Notice how Foxy avoids an issue that she can have no acceptable explanation for.

Foxy happy with this! $1.64 million in total.

The ABC's former managing director, Michelle Guthrie, will receive an out-of-court settlement worth $730,000 in return for ending her legal action.

Ms Guthrie was sacked halfway through her term in September last year and pursued the public broadcaster for wrongful dismissal in the Federal Court.

The matter was resolved last Friday and acting ABC managing director David Anderson revealed the $730,000 settlement at a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.

"The parties did start a long way apart," Mr Anderson told the committee.

"As you know, the adverse action claim was against reinstatement or, I believe, payment of the remaining term of Ms Guthrie, with two-and-a-half years left to run on her contract.

"There was toing and froing to arrive at the number I'm about to give you.

"The gross amount of that settlement claim is $730,000."

Ms Guthrie was also paid more than one year's salary when her contract was terminated, separate to the out-of-court settlement, taking the total pay out to $1.64 million.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-06/michelle-guthrie-gets-730000-from-abc-out-of-court-settlement/10875896

Total silence by Foxy, run away to hide in the fox den.