Mr Dondas asked the Minister representing the Minister for Communications, the Information Economy and the Arts, upon notice, on 23 September 1997:

(1) What sums have been appropriated for the ABC in the Northern Territory in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1996-97, (c) 1995-96, (d) 1994-95 and (e) 1993-94.

(2) What was the (a) dollar value and (b) percentage of funding cuts sustained by the ABC in the Northern Territory in (i) ABC Television, (ii) ABC Radio, (iii) Radio Australia and (c) Australia Television in the (A) 1996 and (B) 1997 Budgets.

(3) What programming changes have occurred as a direct result of the budget cuts to the ABC in the Northern Territory.

(4) Have budget cuts caused Northern Territory jobs losses in (a) ABC television, (b) ABC radio, (c) Radio Australia and (d) Australia Television; if so, how many.

(5) What are the latest rating figures for (a) ABC television Darwin, (b) ABC radio Darwin and (c) ABC radio Alice Springs.

Mr Warwick Smith —The Minister for Communications, the Information Economy and the Arts has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

(1) (a—e) Funding allocations for ABC activities in the Northern Territory are determined through internal ABC budget processes which allocate available funds to the various portfolios.

Information for the years 1993-94 and 1994-95 is not readily available as information prior to the last three years is not held on current systems. This data would need to be sourced from filed and archived information which would take considerable time and cost to compile.

Actual expenditure information for 1995-96 and 1996-97 as well as the current budget allocation for 1997-98 is set out below.

Note:   the above information does not include allocation of various head office costs which for efficiency reasons are held centrally e.g. centralised program purchasing costs, HACBSS and terrestrial communication costs, workers compensation and insurance premiums, interdivisional charges etc.

(2) Based on the table shown at Question (1)(a), the Northern Territory budget allocation increased in the 1996-97 year by 9% and was reduced in the 1997-98 year by 16%.

Under the One ABC structure the Divisions of Radio and Television no longer exist and funding is now split between non-media specific portfolios. Meaningful financial year comparisons based on the above classifications are therefore not available.

Radio Australia has not had any direct expenditure or funding classified under the Northern Territory. Separate figures for ATV expenditure in the Northern Territory are not maintained.

(3) In the Northern Territory, the local radio afternoon program from Alice Springs has been replaced by a Territory-wide program from Darwin. This change has, however, enabled the establishment of a part-time Broadcaster in Katherine to provide local input to Territory Radio from this important region of the Territory.

There have been no changes to ABC Television programming in the Territory as a result of budget cuts.

(4) Job losses in the Northern Territory excluding restructuring total 9 as follows :

1 Senior Executive Management; 3 administration (1 redeployed and 2 voluntary redundancy—supply and finance); 2 broadcasters (local radio redeployed); 2 broadcasters voluntary redundancy; 1 journalist position Australia Television (vacant).

(5) (a) As the ABC does not subscribe to AC Nielsen-McNair's television ratings surveys undertaken in Darwin, we are unable to provide figures for television.

(5) (b) The latest radio ratings figures for Darwin have been taken from the ABC Audience Research report "Radio Listening in Darwin: October-November 1996". The weekly reach and percentage reach figures are as follows:

(5) (c) The latest radio ratings data for Alice Springs is from the ABC "Northern Territory Regional Survey: August-September 1995". The weekly reach and percentage reach figures are as follows: