SA: Program cuts the responsibility of the ABC says Howard
ADELAIDE, Aug 7 AAP - The federal government had not cut funds to the ABC and any complaintsabout the axing of programs should be directed to ABC management not the government, PrimeMinister John Howard said today.
Mr Howard said the government had honoured its election promise to maintain fundingin real terms for the national broadcaster.
"We haven't cut the ABC's budget," Mr Howard told Adelaide radio 5DN.
"At the last election we promised to maintain their budget in real terms, that is protectit against inflation and we have done that.
"These decisions (on programming) are the internal decisions of the ABC, they are notthe fault of the government."
Mr Howard said he supported the ABC and believed in the need for a public broadcaster.
"But the ABC has to live within a budget, the ABC has no right to ever increasing amountsof federal funding," he said.
"If people are unhappy that these programs have disappeared they should take theircomplaints to the ABC management, not to the government."
AAP tjd/lb/jlw
KEYWORD: ABC HOWARD
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