Australian senate rejects bill to restore ABC shortwave
VK4ADC > 19-08-2017, 02:09 PM
Australian senate rejects bill to restore ABC shortwave
Australia's senate has rejected proposed legislation to restore the international radio service of the country's public broadcaster. Many remote communities in Pacific island countries rely on shortwave radio.
The bill would have required the ABC to restore its shortwave transmission services which the broadcaster ended in January this year. This move was described in the bill as having deprived communities in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and other parts of the Pacific of access to reliable emergency broadcasting.
Submitters of the bill questioned the ABC's assertions that very few listeners accessed Radio Australia's shortwave service.
Concerns of the submitters included perceived neglect of remote communities in the Pacific, and the loss of capacity for emergency warning broadcasts.
(From WIA News for 20 August 2017)