Hugh Marks flags emergency powers amid Middle East conflict, Australia fuel crisis
Updated ,first published
Some of ABC’s most recognizable faces: Late Night Live Host David Marr and Radio National Hour Presenter Fran Kelly walked off the job for 24 hours on Wednesday morning, demanding higher pay from the public broadcaster.
Many of the ABC’s services switched to BBC broadcasts after more than 2,000 staff walked off the job and went on strike over what they claimed were poor working conditions and an unacceptable pay offer to increase wages by 10 per cent over three years.
Kelly, a mainstay of political journalism RN Breakfast He said the ABC had stranded its staff for 16 years on salaries too low to cover living expenses.
“I’ve seen too many sensational journalists, dedicated journalists, dedicated producers leave [the ABC] Not because they wanted to, but because they had to, because they just needed to make a life and keep their families going, and that’s what they had to do,” Kelly told staff at a rally outside the ABC offices in Sydney.
Speaking to staff in Melbourne, business reporter Dan Ziffer said in some cases jobs were so insecure that journalists could win a prize one day and be rejected for a car loan the next.
Earlier in the morning, ABC chief executive Hugh Marks told Sydney Radio presenter Hamish Macdonald that he could use the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East or the fuel crisis to demand staff return to work during the landmark strike, which began at 11am on Wednesday.
He told the public media outlet on Tuesday evening that he was expanding the definition of “emergency broadcasting” to include “a matter of national or international importance.”
As ABC staff walked off the job, radio stations in Melbourne and Sydney replaced their standard news bulletins with a pre-recorded message explaining the outage, followed by the 1980s hit. I’m Waiting for a Star to Fall.
“Due to labor action we are unable to bring you your usual programming. We apologize for the disruption. Regular ABC radio programs will resume as soon as possible,” the message said.
On news channel ABC TV, presenter Gemma Veness warned viewers there would be “program disruptions” as the deadline approached. After 11:00, the broadcast switched to BBC World News America.
Kelly, along with media union president and ABC journalist Michael Slezak, addressed staff outside the ABC’s offices in Sydney. Marr was also in the crowd Four Corners reporter Angus Grigg. In Melbourne, hundreds of staff gathered outside the office to drive home the union’s message.
Previously published by ABC Sydney morning When host Macdonald said he was changing the definition of emergency broadcasting and whether he was referring to the ongoing fuel crisis and wars in the Middle East, Marks said it “depends on how these issues progress”.
“It’s not a good time for our team to be off the field. There’s a lot going on in the world,” he said.
The media union’s Cassie Derrick said Marks needed to provide quality jobs if he wanted his workforce to deliver quality news on issues of national and international importance.
“Our members take their obligations to public safety very seriously, but they will not be fooled,” Derrick said.
The ABC also announced it would ask the Fair Work Commission, which oversees industrial issues in Australia, to step in to help resolve the pay dispute.
19:00 news and 7.30 It will not air on ABC’s main channel on Wednesday evening. Macdonald confirmed there would be no 7pm news bulletin on the ABC’s main channel on Wednesday evening.
ABC staff are demanding the public broadcaster address what they claim are widespread issues of poor pay, working conditions and job security. The ABC argues that the offer of a 10 per cent pay rise over three years is fair in the context of tight funding and that staff’s average tenure at the broadcaster is long.
ABC receives more than $1.1 billion in annual taxpayer funding.
Speaking at a press conference held outside the ABC’s Parliament House office as the strike began, Opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said the decision to strike was “an absolute disgrace”.
“There’s never been a more important time in this country when we need ABC journalists and other content creators to get out there and keep Australians informed. We’ve got a fuel crisis. We’ve got a cost of living crisis,” Henderson said as ABC staff walked out behind him.
Henderson said he was a member of the media union when he worked at the ABC and supported staff’s right to “pursue their cases but he is not currently doing so”.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect with: X or email.
Kishor Napier-Raman is senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He previously worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliament press gallery.Connect with: X or email.
