Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has welcomed the ABC’s announcement it will spend an additional $15 million annually to expand its coverage of events and issues in regional areas.
ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie this month announced the national broadcaster would create up to 80 new jobs to deliver regional news and information as part of its Connecting Communities package.
“This announcement is good news for people living in regional areas,” Mr Chester said. “I am looking forward to seeing – and hearing – more content sourced from Gippsland and other parts of regional Australia. People in regional areas want to hear, see and read stories about local people on issues that are important to them.”
The Connecting Communities package includes boosting the ABC’s digital and video reporting capability in the regions and working with regional communities to tell their stories.
Mr Chester said he had lobbied senior ABC management over several years to redirect more of its existing $1 billion annual budget to regional areas.
“I have previously been outspoken about the ABC spending too much money on senior management positions in Sydney and Melbourne, rather than investing in the regions,” he said.
“This announcement helps to change that. ABC journalists and senior managers shouldn’t have to move to the big cities to advance their career. I recognise the recent, positive changes that have been made by ABC management in recent years to retain experienced people in the regions, and promoting talent from within regional studios.
“In addition, the ABC has adopted new technology in Gippsland, such as live streaming services, and more video content. The recent episode of Heather Ewart’s Backroads program featuring Mallacoota has also put our region in the national spotlight.”
Mr Chester said the funding boost would also increase coverage of local events and breaking news, enable reporters to spend more time in remote areas, and train and equip regional teams to develop new content.
“Gippsland is a region rich in important news and interesting stories that need to be told. This investment will mean there will be more reporters on the ground telling stories from regional areas and covering the issues and events that are important to us,” Mr Chester said.