Through Senate Inquiry Submissions, commercially confidential information has been leaked which should now require the ABC to make full disclosure.
In the Cordell Jigsaw (independent producers) and SPAA submissions there were a number of comercially confidential data provided. This raises serious concerns that this information is not available to the public and the requirement for the ABC to make full disclosure.
The following is a letter addressed to ABC's Managing Director Mark Scott from CPSU's Section Secretary Graeme Thomson bringing this information to the ABC's attention and the implications of this leak.
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16 September 2011
Mark Scott
Managing Directors
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Ultimo, NSW
Mark Scott
Managing Directors
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Ultimo, NSW
Dear Mr Scottcc CPSU members
Commercial in Confidence Data
In preparing its submission to the Senate Inquiry into Recent ABC Programming Decisions, the CPSU
noted the difficulty of locating clear data on the internal/external spend. The CPSU managed through
an analysis of the annual reports over the past four years to extract limited data on the ABC spend on
external TV commissions. We were unable however to derive any data on the spend by genre, and
similarly were unable to locate any publicly accessible data on expenditure at the program level. We
have in the past sought this data but have been advised that it was commercial-in-confidence.
It comes as a surprise therefore that SPAA and the so called ‘Independent Producers’ submissions
contain commercial in confidence material. The information that we believe to be commercial-inconfidence
include:
Statements about the value of the ABC spend over the past few years on Entertainment. The SPAA
submission includes the following statement
Adding to cost pressures are the rising costs of acquisitions for completed programs from overseas,
declining revenues from DVD sales of past programs, and the costs associated with the increase in
servicing three channels, funding ABC Online, and ABC 24. This has led to a squeeze internally and
management have made some adjustments including reducing the Entertainment budget down from
$13.5 million in 2008/09 to $9.2 million in 2011/12 resulting in some of the cancellations that have
excited this inquiry.
A similar statement is made in the Cordell Jigsaw (Independent Producers) submission:
Overshadowing debate over the appropriate levels of internal/external production is the broader
issue of overall funding at the ABC. Allocations for commissioning Entertainment shows have fallen by
40% in real terms in the last 4 years alone. This affects both internal and external productions.
Less than 5% of the $193 million FY12 budget for TV content is available for commissioning external
Entertainment and Factual. Cash funding to Entertainment TV has been seriously cut in recent years,
from $13.5 million in FY09 to $9.2 million in 11/12. Independent producers have been informed that
this figure is likely to fall again in 12/13.
The Cordell Jigsaw submission also states:
There is now a genuine funding crisis for television programming at the ABC that affects both internal
and external commissioning. The ABC spends $48 million a year on internal facilities and staff, while
only spending $27 million commissioning Entertainment, Arts and Factual shows.
On a separate matter, the SPAA submission reveals:
“SPAA believes that sport is an important part of community life, particularly in regional areas, and the
ABC has long played a significant role in the wider community by broadcasting regional sport.
However, the cost to the taxpayer of maintaining and upgrading expensive outside broadcast
equipment and personnel is extensive – in excess of $10 million dollars a year.”
None of the highlighted information is in the public domain. The CPSU notes that information
concerning whee the ABC spends it resources is central to the public debate about the future of the
ABC and the matters being investigated by the Senate Committee. It is disturbing therefore that
commercial-in-confidence material has been leaked from within the ABC to assist the private sector
producers’ position in the current debate. The CPSU can only assume that this information has been
leaked by the Television Division of the Corporation to give effect to Mr Dalton’s request to SPAA in
2006 that their members take on the fight to dismantle internal production.
In the past, the leaking of sensitive information has resulted in the Federal Police being called to the
ABC. The CPSU is not suggesting that the Federal Police be called in again, but rather calls on you to
investigate the source of the leak and to take appropriate disciplinary cation against those who have
selectively leaked the information.
The CPSU notes that since parts of the so called commercial-in-confidence material have been
leaked, the ABC should now make a full disclosure of its internal commissioning budgets. How much
has been spent on internal and external commissioning by genre over the past four years? Are the
figures on the cost of the maintenance and upgrading of the OB vans accurate? Is the claim that 65%
of the TV local program budget is spent on fixed staff and facility costs accurate given the Annual
Reports indicate that only 33% of expenditure is made on internally commissioned programs?
The leaking of this information suggests collusion between ABC management and private sector
interests. The CPSU requests that you help clear the air by supporting our call for an audit of the TV
books and a performance audit of the TV commissioning process by the Australian National Audit
Office.
Yours sincerely,
Graeme Thomson
ABC Section Secretary
