Senator SANTORO (2:19 PM) —My question is to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Alston. Is the minister aware that the Australian Council of State School Organisations has been circulating a petition calling on `the federal government to immediately reverse the recent funding cuts to the ABC'? Will the minister be kind enough to comment on this claim?

Senator ALSTON (Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) —I am indebted to Senator Santoro for drawing attention to what I think is a matter of very great importance because we do not want the Australian public to be misled in any shape or form. I know that Senator Santoro and those on this side are under no illusions, but—

Senator Faulkner —It's a new principle, is it?

Senator ALSTON —We do our best to educate the other side of the chamber, but you can only do so much. We are prepared to offer re-education courses, but they probably would not be able to find their way to the enrolment desk. In the meantime, all we can do is provide information. Senator Santoro draws attention to a recent petition which was circulated by the Australian Council of State School Organisations. They call on the federal government to reverse recent funding cuts to the ABC to ensure the educational programming budget is restored and to allow for the immediate reinstatement of Behind the News. In other words, what they are doing is giving effect to very understandable community outrage about a program that has been going for some 34 years—which is watched by 1.3 million students a week— being terminated by the ABC for no apparent reason, without warning and without justification. In fact the presenter said that she had no notice at all. She simply got an email and she was effectively given notice, which is a very unfortunate state of affairs. As a result there is a lot of community concern.

Fortunately the Council of State School Organisations has revised its petition and made it plain that they now understand that it is not a decision of government—it is entirely a matter for the ABC. The cost of Behind the News is about one-thousandth of the ABC's total budget—in fact, $760 million a year guaranteed, indexed; over a three-year period, some $2.2 billion. For the first time in 16 years we gave them an increase of $71.2 million for regional programming. We of course have given them close to $700 million for digital transmission and infrastructure, and an extra $90 million for ABC Asia-Pacific Television.

This matter is entirely in the control of the ABC; it is their responsibility. Members of the general public are very much aware of this. If you look at letters to the editor, it is quite clear they know where responsibility lies. They know that the ABC spends nearly four times as much on motor vehicles each year as it does on Behind the News. It spends half the cost of the programming cost of Behind the News on clothing allowances for staff. It spends half a million dollars a year on sending staff overseas to conferences. As a result, children and parents are hopping mad.

Senator ALSTON —You should be able to pass this on. Senator George Campbell does have a particular conduit back to the ABC and he ought to be able to make this information abundantly plain: children and parents are hopping mad because of a program discretionary cut made by and within the ABC and not by the government.