Hands Off Our ABC

Hands Off Our ABC

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Hands Off Our ABC is a community and advocacy campaign co-ordinated by the two unions that represent the vast bulk of employees at the ABC: the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance and the Community and Public Sector Union.

Our goal is an editorially-independent ABC that is fully-funded by the government and meets its charter as a comprehensive national broadcaster, that is resourced to tell Australian stories across multiple platforms, and positioned to take advantage of new technology to retain its position as the most trusted and reliable source of news and entertainment in Australia.

Read more about this campaign >>

Hands Off Our ABC is a community and advocacy campaign co-ordinated by the two unions that represent the vast bulk of employees at the ABC: the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance and the Community and Public Sector Union.

Our goal is an editorially-independent ABC that is fully-funded by the government and meets its charter as a comprehensive national broadcaster, that is resourced to tell Australian stories across multiple platforms, and positioned to take advantage of new technology to retain its position as the most trusted and reliable source of news and entertainment in Australia.

Read more about this campaign >>

Email Communications Minister Mitch Fifield

The Federal Budget handed down on Tuesday, May 8, froze funding to the ABC for the next three years,  effectively cutting $83.6 million from the ABC.

This comes on top of $254 million of cuts since the Coalition government was elected in 2013.

Hundreds of jobs have been lost and programming cut as a result of these deep cuts, making it difficult for the ABC to continue to fulfill its charter. Currently, 20 newsroom jobs around Australia are facing the axe.

Send a message to the Minister for Communications, Mitch Fifield, demanding that he stands up for the ABC’s independence from political interference and fights to protect it from any further funding cuts.

 

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The wording of the letter below is just a suggestion. Feel free to add your own personal touches to the message you send to Mitch Fifield. For instance:

  • Talk about how long you have been a listener or viewer and a family connection to the ABC;
  • Mention a news story or a program that had a big impact on you – or an ABC presenter or personality who has been an influence. It might be something that changed the way you think, or that touched your heart.
  • Refer to some of the big stories and investigations that the ABC has undertaken that would not be possible with reduced staff.
  • If you live in regional Australia, talk about the importance of the ABC in an area with limited media choices.

It's really up to you what you say, but please avoid anything that could be considered offensive or aggressive.

Please note that your comments may be used by MEAA to support this campaign.

 

How we use the data you enter on this form

This information is being collected for the purpose of the Hands off Our ABC campaign to protect and improve the ABC. We may contact you at a later date. In providing us this information you agree to the MEAA collecting this information and handling it in accordance with our privacy policy. If you do not opt out, you may also be contacted from time to time by the MEAA about other campaign activities unrelated to Hands Off Our ABC. You can access our privacy policies, including information on use, disclosure, security, access, correction and complaints, here).

 

Do Gooder (the advocacy platform powering this online action) processes personal information from you that you enter on this form so that we can provide the functions and related services to you and The Campaigner (the organisation responsible for this online action) for their legitimate purposes, including possibly exporting it to other systems, and to effectively respond to enquiries and communications related to those services.

Specifically when you enter:

  • Your location data (residential address or postcode) it is used to locate your elected representative, to pre-populate your email signature and to provide The Campaigner with a visualisation of the location of the support for this campaign.

  • All other data you may enter, including your email address, name, telephone number, commentary and so on is used by The Campaigner to advocate for the campaign’s goals and where required may be sent to the target of the campaign.

The data collected by Do Gooder is also used by us in aggregate form to improve the service and may be held on your behalf outside your country of residence by our third party service providers. These providers are bound by contract to only use personal information on our behalf, in accordance with agreed terms. While the privacy laws of the country in which personal information is stored or transferred may be different from those in your country, we will always have safeguards in place when storing or transferring personal information. We will never sell, rent, loan or in any other way pass your information on to other parties other than to provide this service to you and The Campaigner.

The personal information collected by Do Gooder is held subject to a Data Processing Agreement between Do Gooder and The Campaigner in compliance with the EU's GDPR and Australian law.

Learn more about our privacy policy here

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