News Corp Australia has released the Federal Budget front pages for all their mastheads today including publications:
• The Australian – special 16-page Federal Budget lift out in Wednesday’s The Australian
• The Daily Telegraph
• The Herald Sun
• The Courier-Mail
• The Advertiser
• The NT News
• The Hobart Mercury
The Australian
The Advertiser
The NT News
The Daily Telegraph
The Herald Sun
The Courier Mail
The Hobart Mercury
In the Federal Budget, the Albanese Government has announced it will provide funding stability to critical institutions in the communications sector in the 2023-24 Budget.
The investment in communications will provide five-year funding terms for the national broadcasters – the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) – and increase base operational funding by rolling three current terminating measures on an ongoing basis.
The government will also provide $5 million to support the Australian Associated Press (AAP) newswire service while the News Media Assistance Program (News MAP) is developed.
Public broadcaster dollars for ABC & SBS
The Government claimed it is delivering on its election commitment to five-year funding terms for the national broadcasters – with annual funding of $1.1 billion for ABC and $334.9 million for SBS.
“This funding stability underpins the delivery of quality content and services that inform, entertain and educate millions of Australians, including children, regional audiences and diverse multicultural communities,” commented Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland.
The ABC and SBS will receive an additional $72 million over four years to extend and roll three previously terminating programs into ongoing funding:
ABC Enhanced News Gathering, which supports regional journalist positions in regional bureaus throughout Australia.
SBS Media Sector Support, which provides news, content, subtitling and English learning resources to Australians who speak languages other than English, with a focus on Chinese and Arabic communities.
ABC and SBS Audio Description, to make screen content more accessible to audiences who are blind or vision impaired.
The ABC will receive $8.5 million over four years to expand transmission infrastructure in the Pacific under the Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy. The funding will provide further access to Australian content, boosting media connections in the region.
Read more: Budget 2023-24 roundup: Funding the ABC, SBS and AAP, Screen industry boost