The Australian Broadcasting Corporation will receive a two-year $83m funding boost in Labor’s midyear economic update, which will bank $14.6bn of additional savings and rack up $8.8bn of “unavoidable spending”.
The update, to be delivered on Wednesday, will also reveal an increase of $16.3bn in payments and programs, with billions more spent due to pension indexation, extra childcare subsidies and school support for children with disability.
The ABC will receive an additional $83.1m over two years from 2026-27, and extra ongoing funding of $43m a year.
Funding will be guaranteed for the ABC and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) in five-year terms, to be enshrined in legislation. The move responds to a report to be released on Tuesday calling for greater safeguards to the public broadcasters’ independence.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said: “The Albanese government is committed to supporting the independence of the ABC and SBS, and funding stability is an important safeguard.”
“The review has identified options to further support the independence of the ABC and SBS by strengthening funding and governance arrangements.”
“The national broadcasters are important cultural institutions and pillars of our democracy, providing world-class news and entertainment in accordance with their statutory charters, for the benefit of all Australians.”
The ABC managing director, David Anderson, said the additional funds will provide improved financial certainty and stability. “Continued investment in the ABC is critical to support the democratic process, reflect our unique culture and build our national identity through Australian stories.”
After delivering two full-year budget surpluses, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has softened Australians up for a deteriorating budget position, due to falling mining export revenues and company tax receipts.
On Tuesday the government will reveal it intends to make $14.6bn in savings including: $5.2bn from the aged care reforms, which passed with Coalition support; $1.6bn in “reprioritisations” in the defence portfolio; and a further $7.8bn in savings that won’t be detailed until Wednesday.
The government claims that $8.8bn in new spending is “unavoidable”, including:
$2.5bn in new and amended Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listings;
$871m to extend terminating programs in the health and aged care portfolio;
$719m to address “unavoidable cost pressures” from projects in the infrastructure investment program;
$647m to extend terminating funding for the NDIS; and;
$249m to prepare and protect the nation against avian influenza.
A further $16.3bn will be spent on programs including:
$1.8bn in additional payments to veterans;
$3.6bn for indexation of the aged pension;
$3.1bn in additional childcare subsidy payments to assist families with the cost of childcare and support an extra 200,000 children to receive early education;
$2.6bn in additional funding flowing to schools in response to increased enrolments and additional support to students with a disability;
$2.3bn in additional support through Medicare and the PBS; and
$1.8bn in additional recovery funding for disaster-affected communities.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said: “As we have done at every economic update since coming to government, the Albanese government remains focused on finding responsible savings to make room for priority investments in cost of living, housing and Medicare.”
“It’s a stark contrast with the Liberals and Nationals, who didn’t identify one cent in savings in their final 2022 March budget.
“In this update, we have worked hard to find responsible savings while also dealing with the significant spending pressures we are facing.
“We are doing the right thing by our veterans, pensioners, school kids and Australians who rely on essential health programs, but the Coalition’s plan to cut $315bn in spending would see cuts across all of these areas.”
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has criticised Labor – including in his 2024 budget reply – for increasing spending by $315bn or $30,000 an Australian household.
However, the Coalition has suggested it will save less than a third of that with cuts, yet to be detailed, amounting to almost $100bn, much of which will come from off-budget funds which therefore don’t affect the budget bottom line.
For much of its first term of government, Labor has benefited from jobs and wages growth and commodity prices delivering massive upward revisions of revenue, helping to fund cost-of-living relief including $300 payments for household energy bills.
But the decision to increase spending despite banking surpluses of $22.1bn and $15.8bn has opened the government to criticism that fiscal policy was not doing enough to combat inflation and reduce interest rates, particularly when combined with increased spending by state governments.
