Showing posts with label ABC radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABC radio. Show all posts

Thursday 26 February 2015

Right-wing attacks on the ABC continue. This time Gerard Henderson's tilt at Media Watch & Professor Chapman backfires spectacularly


Weighed under by budget cuts and loss of an international platform the Australian Broadcasting Commission, everybody's Aunty, must wonder when Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's flying monkeys will cease their attacks on its integrity.

Fortunately some of those who become collateral damage in the war on public broadcasting bite back publicly, as did Simon Fenton Chapman AO BA(Hons) (UNSW), PhD (USyd), FASSA, HonFFPH (UK).

Professor Chapman in Crikey on 23 February 2015:

Over the weekend and this morning, The Australian's Gerard Henderson and Simon King spent a lot of ink explaining to readers that I have "as much authority to discuss health affairs as I [Henderson] do. Namely, Zip."
Their readers needed to be told this because last week Media Watch tipped a very rancorous bucket over The Australian's reportage of a "study" from Victoria by acoustic engineer Steven Cooper that involved just three households of altogether six long-time complainants about the local wind farm. There was no control group. Here and here are critiques of the many manifest inadequacies of his report.
I was one of four people quoted by Media Watch in the program, and this got our Gerard very excited. He wrote to the program:
"Media Watch's decision to associate Professor Chapman with the words 'expert' and 'scientific' gave a clear impression that he is qualified to assess scientific research. However, Paul Barry neglected to advise Media Watch viewers that Simon Chapman had no scientific or engineering or medical qualifications. He has a BA (Hons) from the University of New South Wales and a Ph.D. from Sydney University. Dr Chapman's Ph.D. is in Sociology. In other words, Simon Chapman has no qualifications to assess the research of the acoustic engineer Steven Cooper … Media Watch misled its viewers last Monday by implying that Professor Simon Chapman is an 'expert' who is 'scientifically' qualified to assess the heath effect on humans of wind farms. The fact is that Simon Chapman has no formal qualifications in science or medicine or engineering."
This morning Simon King went one better with his discovery that ""He does not have a PhD in Medicine". In fact, I do have a PhD in medicine. Here's a list of 14 of us who graduated in 1986 with … wait for it … a "PhD in medicine", as King could have read if he'd checked my CV (line 1, page 3) or asked me.
I did my PhD in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (that M word again). The duffers on the Order of Australia committee also seem to know that I contribute to health and medical research. My citation reads "for distinguished service to medical research as an academic and author".
King and Henderson appear to know nothing about the nature of contemporary expertise and how nearly all complex problems in health and medicine today involve researchers from different disciplines working together. In my school in the faculty of medicine there are staff who are biostatisticians, historians, psychologists, ethicists, economists, epidemiologists, and social scientists. Only some — probably a minority — have undergraduate degrees in medicine. Henderson's primitive understanding of expertise begins and ends with the possession of an undergraduate degree…..
Steven Cooper, whose CV has no mention of any PhD or undergraduate degree in medicine, until recently referred to himself as "Dr Cooper" on his home page. I look forward to The Australian covering this…..
Read the rest of the article here.

Friday 19 December 2014

Just how big is the ABC's slice of the federal budget pie?


Business Spectator 20 November 2014:


When members of the Abbott Government talk about a need to rein in Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) spending, they rely on graphs like the one above (which displays funding in terms of millions of dollars) in order to scare voters about current and future public broadcasting sustainability.

Here is just a small visual reminder to the Abbott Government of how little, in the grand scheme of things, ABC television, radio and digital platforms actually cost.

A relatively small 0.271% of the total federal budget according to BudgetAus:

Sunday 7 December 2014

How many Walkley Awards did the Our ABC win this year? That many!



Despite a sustained political and economic assault by the Abbott Government and a anti-public broadcasting campaign by Rupert Murdoch's media, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) had thirty finalists in the 2014 Walkley Awards.

Twelve ABC journalists won on the night in the thirty-four award categories – some coming first in more than one category.

ABC News 5 December 2014:

The ABC's Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulou and Fairfax Media's Adele Ferguson have jointly won Australian journalism's highest award, the Gold Walkley, for a Four Corners investigation of the Commonwealth Bank….
A joint ABC News and Guardian investigation which angered Prime Minister Tony Abbott and upset relations with Indonesia was named the Scoop of the Year.
Reporters Michael Brissenden, Ewan MacAskill and Lenore Taylor were presented the award for their story revealing that Australia's spy networks were targeting Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's personal mobile phone…..
Australian Story's Belinda Hawkins took out the category for Social Equity Journalism with her story on the search by donor-conceived children for their biological fathers.
Middle East correspondent Hayden Cooper was honoured for his coverage of the Peter Greste trial, winning the Walkley for Radio News and Current Affairs reporting.
Matt Brown, Hayden Cooper, Aaron Hollett, Stuart Watt, Michael Carey and the ABC news teams won Best Coverage of a Major News Event or Issue, with their reporting on the Gaza conflict.
Matt Brown and Mark Solomons won the Walkley for TV/AV Reporting for three exclusives about Australian jihadists in Syria.
Radio National's Sarah Dingle won the Radio/Audio Documentary award for her investigation into the Salvation Army's sex abuse cover-up.
ABC News and Foreign Correspondent cameraman Wayne McAllister was honoured for his work in Thailand, the South China Sea and Ukraine.
Four Corners, ABC TV and The Australian shared the Investigative Journalism award for their reports into the treatment of children caught up in conflict in the West Bank.
7.30's Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Sam Clark won the TV/AV Daily Current Affairs award for their investigation of corruption, kickbacks, rackets and organised crime within the building industry and the CFMEU.
A joint ABC TV/Mint Pictures and Identity Films won the Documentary award for investigations into child abuse at a Orthodox Jewish boys' school in Melbourne.

Well done, Our ABC!

Friday 17 October 2014

Our ABC speaks out

13TH OCTOBER 2014
Address by Mark Scott
University of Melbourne
Monday 13 October 2014

Last Friday night, I had the honour of hosting a ceremony as part of the ABC’s Mental As week. I am sure you’re aware of Mental As and our involvement with it, as it illustrates perfectly the role of the ABC—engaging the community in an issue of national importance, using its storytelling expertise and cross-platform prowess to explain a complex, contemporary issue. No other broadcaster in this country could even attempt such an ambitious exercise.

Public broadcasting has always aspired to inform, to educate and to entertain. I couldn’t be prouder of how we fulfilled that role last week, giving Australians a chance to talk, to seek and to give, creating a platform for a national conversation around mental health. It was the work of a digital age ABC, the most comprehensive cross-platform content and marketing initiative we have ever undertaken.

Mental As will have had an impact on millions of Australians who watched, listened and engaged online—and on the nation itself.

That has always been the ABC’s way. Part of Australian life, part of the lives of millions of Australians each week. Something that belongs to all Australians, everywhere.

Our work on Mental As coincided with campaigns around the country over the future of Lateline and other programs. The public response to Mental As and the Save Lateline petitions show yet again the degree of passion the public, the owners of the ABC have for the public broadcaster.

The ABC Board acts as trustee for the Australian people who own the ABC. The Board is independent and accountable to Parliament for the decisions it makes on how to spend the funds allocated to the public broadcaster, for decisions about how best to fulfill the Charter as set out in the ABC Act.

Why is the ABC so widely appreciated by the public in whose interests the Board acts? It’s a national asset, long loved and nurtured down through the generations. For the vast majority of Australians, it’s our most trusted source of news. It’s integral to the lives of millions, with over 70% of Australians over 18 using the ABC each week—not to mention the nation’s pre-schoolers for whom bedtime is signalled by Giggle and Hoot.

For all these reasons, when you talk about the prospects of the ABC being changed, and changed significantly, it would be negligent not to talk about the challenges the ABC is facing right now.

If you love and care for the ABC, if you support and want it to remain strong, robust and relevant within Australian life—and if you read the headlines—then you know these are uncertain times for the ABC.

In the face of this uncertainty, the ABC Board and its management team remain resolved to secure the ABC’s future in the digital age. For the ABC to be an indispensible element in the lives of millions of Australians and the life of the nation. For it, as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, to be a place where despite all the international content freely flowing within our media streams, Australians know they will find Australian stories and a national conversation.

Convergence, technological change and new competition continue to create uncertainty everywhere in the media sector.
The ABC also contends with an additional uncertainty, dependent upon funding decisions that are still to be made—or at least revealed—by the Government.

Everyone except the cynics would be a little surprised to find the ABC facing this uncertainty.

For decades now, the ABC has been funded through a bipartisan triennial funding arrangement, where three years funding has been committed by the Government of the day. This enabled the ABC to undertake multi-year contracts and plan with some certainty, most importantly in program production areas, with a secure income stream.

That security is particularly important to the ABC in that, unlike other media organisations, we effectively have no other way of raising revenue.

We’re now in the middle of the most recent triennial funding agreement, made in May 2013. This agreement still has a year and a half to run, and it’s very rare indeed for the ABC’s budget to be cut in the middle of a triennial funding agreement.

I don’t need to remind you of the very clear, public and oft-repeated commitment made by Mr Abbott before the election, and after the election, inside Parliament and outside Parliament. He guaranteed that, in its first term of office, the Government would maintain the ABC’s budget.

These are facts that I can report—I’m not going to provide further commentary.

The reality is the ABC’s budget has already been cut this year. And more cuts are on the way.

Earlier in the year, I’d imagined that by the time I’d be speaking to you here at the University of Melbourne, we’d know the future funding position for the ABC.

Not so.

We are still not sure precisely how much will be cut. We are still not sure precisely when the cuts will become payable. And decisions around size and timing could, naturally, have a material impact on ABC audiences.

I want to pay tribute to our staff. As I have said to them, the very best thing they can do during this period of uncertainty is to do their very best work. And they’ve done it, continuing to be completely professional, dedicating themselves to bringing Australian stories and conversations to Australians everywhere regardless of the climate of uncertainty in which they’ve had to work.

Some commentators have suggested the ABC should stop grandstanding and get on with belt-tightening. The reality is the ABC has already been belt-tightening, and taken steps to deal with what amounts to a $120 million funding cut over four years.

In the May budget, the Government introduced the somewhat novel concept of a “down payment”. This “down payment” came in the form of an extraction of funds from our triennial funding settlement—a 1% cut to base funding and the termination of the Australia Network contract, which still had over 9 years to run.

ABC International has been forced to downsize and more than 80 people have left the ABC as a result—many great talents are now lost to us, over a thousand years of experience has gone out the door.

The challenge was not helped at all by the fact that compensation provided by DFAT for terminating the contract fell short—by more than $5 million—of the actual costs of termination.

We have also taken steps to deal with the first tranche of the $40 million base funding cut. No one’s procrastinating.

Now, “down payments” normally provide some notion of rights for the payee about when and how the final payment will be made.

But not so in this case.

The final strategy for dealing with the funding cuts will have to be determined by the Board and Executive once the size of the cut and the repayment timing is known. Obviously both will have a significant effect on the decisions that must be made.

And since rumour loves a vacuum, while we’ve been waiting for the Government to reveal just how much more they want back from the ABC, some of the ABC’s critics have taken this opportunity to step up and offer us helpful guidance on where cuts must be made, while ABC supporters have been telling us where they must not be made.

We’re hopeful that this will, finally, be resolved soon.

In the meantime, we continue to develop a range of options to deal with what we do know, and contingency plans to deal with what we don’t.

And while I’m not able to deal with specifics tonight, I do want show you how we’re thinking through the considerable challenge.

Let’s begin with efficiency.

Read the rest here.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

The 73 million reasons why the Abbott Government is intent on crushing public broadcasting in Australia


American media mogul Rupert Murdoch and News Corp made no secret of the fact that they supported the Liberal-National Coalition gaining federal government and backed Tony Abbott's bid for prime ministership in the September 2013 Australian federal election.

This support was enthusiastically and sometimes crudely expressed:




In his turn Tony Abbott has kept his close links with News Corp since he became prime minister: for example attempting to change the racial discrimination act after a News Corp journalist was found to have breached this act; briefing Rupert Murdoch personally before informing his cabinet of a major policy initiative; attending The Daily Telegraph post-budget party; and  informing The Daily Telegraph before his parliamentary colleagues of changes to data retention policy.

In the Abbott Government's first budget this 'alliance' with Rupert Murdoch continued – funding cuts and loss of a media platform befell public broadcasting which co-incidentally happens to be a major player on the Australian media scene:

The full extent of the ABC threat to News Corp isn't clear until you closely examine their competing activities.
First there's television, and the years-long saga of the ABC's Asia Pacific service, a national vanity project costing tens of millions a year, which the Howard government begged Jonathan Shier to take on in 2001. After the ABC began producing a reasonable, if low-cost, service, News coveted it for Sky News (of which News Corp has an interest via its holding in one-third owner BSkyB) to improve its international clout at taxpayer expense and tried twice, in 2005 and 2010, to win it, getting knocked back both times, although for very different reasons the second time around.
Then there's ABC News 24, a direct rival to Sky News itself and to News Corp's half-owned Foxtel, which carries Sky News. News 24 reaches about 14% of metropolitan audiences a week, far ahead of Sky News.
And free-to-air: Lachlan Murdoch's Ten Network has been regularly losing its third spot in the evening television ratings to the ABC. The ABC pointed out yesterday that it had lifted its prime-time share to a 14.6 share, up 1 percentage point from 2012 and the best performance of any free-to-air network this year. Ten's share fell and in fact spent all of 2013 behind the ABC, consigning it to fourth in metro markets, while its regional performance was even worse. ABC management has simply outclassed Lachlan's conga line of executives. The former head of ABC TV, Kim Dalton, was behind the suite of programs that enabled the ABC to have programs that viewers wanted to watch when Ten imploded in August of 2012, and continued to slide this year. Lachlan Murdoch has removed two CEOs and is now on his third in three years. Ten's problems are as much his problems as those of the poor decision making by former management.
Lachlan Murdoch also slashed and burnt the previous Ten management's carefully developed news and current affairs presence, at a time when the ABC was strengthening its position as the most trusted source of news for Australians across radio and television, far ahead of commercial broadcasters and newspapers — with News Corp's increasingly biased mastheads bringing up the rear as Australia's least-trusted newspapers.
"Plainly there are good leaks involving government secrets, which embarrass the ALP, and bad leaks, which make life difficult for the Coalition."
The ABC's online iView service is also a threat. It's now the most popular TV replay source online, and it competes directly, and for free, with Foxtel.
ABC Radio also competes directly with Lachlan's DMG radio stations in each state capital; Nova FM only beats the ABC's metropolitan local stations in Brisbane and Perth. And ABC Radio is planning a development that will not be greeted warmly by News or Ten or DMG Australia. Fairfax won't be happy either. In an email to staff two weeks ago, ABC Radio head Kate Dundas revealed that, among a long list of changes and new ideas, were state-based online news editions planned for 2014, a new e-mag for Radio National, a huge revamp of the Triple J Dig multiplatform, and a second online music stream for Classic FM.
Probably the most important will be the first version of the ABC audio player — the audio equivalent of iView. Podcasts for programs such as Conversations (which attracts hundreds of thousands of listeners a month) and RN programs will move to this new player site. ABC Radio Multiplatform also has a lot planned for 2014, with mobile versions of key sites like ABC Rural, Dig Music and ABC Local news sites.

The suspicion arises that Tony Abbott will increase pressure on the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) whilst he has the power to do so. 

Given that on 20 August 2014 Crikey.com.au revealed a further motive for this pressure - the parlous state of News Corp in Australia:

Combined with the sharp earnings drop already reported in 2013-14, and with circulation and advertising revenues continuing to decline, the accounts suggest News Corp's Australian newspapers, including the national, metro and regional publications, will struggle to break even this financial year.

The confidential operating accounts for News Corp Australia have never been seen by investors and provide a detailed picture of a print business in rapid decline, with swingeing cost-cuts, cover price increases, new digital subscriptions and digital advertising failing to make up for the loss of revenues from advertising and circulation……

The accounts were produced last year just as Murdoch spun off his troubled print media assets worldwide from the profitable Fox film and cable television empire in the United States, in the wake of the UK phone-hacking scandal.

News Corp was spun out on June 28, 2013, from the renamed 21st Century Fox, and houses mastheads including The Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US, the Times and Sun in the UK, News' Australian newspapers, plus book publisher Harper Collins, Foxtel and Fox Sports in Australia, and a 62% stake in ASX-listed REA Group, which operates the successful realestate.com.au website
Listed on the NASDAQ and the ASX, News Corporation, valued at $11 billion, goes to considerable lengths to avoid breaking revenue or earnings down by country or masthead, lumping its worldwide newspaper operations plus other businesses together into the "news and information" segment, which accounts for 71% of the group's total revenue, and only offering finer detail selectively.

Crikey can reveal that, amid a forest of negative brackets, revenue from News Corp's Australian newspapers fell 14% to $1.9 billion in 2012-13, with circulation revenue dropping 5% and advertising revenue falling 18%, while operating income fell 67% to $94 million.

Within the division, The Australian stands out as the worst performer: revenues dropped 20% from $135 million to 108 million in 2012-13, while operating income fell 41% from a loss of $19 million to a loss of $27 million. After depreciation, the masthead's operating loss fell to $30 million.

The profit drop in newspapers was only partly offset by growth in other operations like REA Group and Fox Sports, with total operating income falling 38% to $221 million. After income from investments including Foxtel, the group recorded a total profit before interest or tax of $367 million, down 28%.....

the heavy falls in print have continued if not accelerated through 2013-14. This is confirmed in News Corp's most recent quarterly earnings update and annual report, showing the Australian newspapers are dragging on recovering newspaper operations in the US and UK, as well as divisions reporting profit growth, such as book publishing.

News reported that earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation from Australian newspapers fell by US $67 million in 2013-14, or $73 million — which by Crikey's estimate represents roughly an 80% fall on the previous year, nearly wiping out the division's entire operating income. The division dragged heavily on the news and information segment, which reported a 16% drop in EBITDA in 2013-14.

The operating accounts show Melbourne's Herald Sun was the mainstay of News Corp in Australia, with the weekday paper generating revenues of $250 million in 2012-13, down 13.5% on the year before, and operating income of $35 million, down 41%. Revenue for the Sunday edition fell 17% to $75 million, while operating income fell 31% to $21 million.

Of the major tabloids the weekday edition of News' monopoly masthead in Brisbane, The Courier-Mail, suffered the steepest falls, with revenue dropping 18% to $158 million while operating income fell 68% to just $17 million. The Sunday Mail revenues fell 15% to $71 million and operating income fell 33% to $20 million.

The weekday edition of Sydney's Daily Telegraph was another weak performer, with the lowest profit margins at 5%, with revenue dropping 14% to $160 million while operating income fell 65% to just $8 million. The Sunday Telegraph revenues fell 15% to $94 million and operating income fell 53% to $7 million.

At that level Adelaide's Advertiser's weekday editions alone made a much stronger contribution than the Tele in 2012-13, generating revenues of $138 million (down 15%) and operating income of $22 million (down 47%) — without counting the Sunday Mail.

The financial performance of the newspapers has only worsened. In its latest accounts News Corp revealed that overall revenue from the Australian newspapers had fallen by another 18% or US $359 million in 2013-14, compared with the previous year, made up of US $314 million decline in advertising revenue and a US $45 million decline in circulation revenue. Of that, News said US $199 million — a bit over half — reflected the impact of a weaker Australian dollar versus the greenback, which pointed to an 8% decline in revenue in local currency to below $1.8 billion. [my red bolding]

Crikey.com.au 21 August 2014:

Adding the two divisions, to make the comparison easier, circulation revenue at Fairfax grew 13% to $327 million in 2012-13, and another 1% to $331 million in 2013-14. Ad revenue fell 18% in 2012-13 to $1,022 million, and another 15% to $869 million the year after. Total revenue fell 11% to $1,507 million in 2012-13, and another 12 % to $1,333 million in 2013-14. There was a moderate improvement in profitability, however, with EBITDA rising 3% to $269 million in 2012-13 and 1% to $273 million in 2013-14.

In 2012-13, Fairfax's Metro Media division recorded a 17% increase in circulation revenue to $222 million. Advertising revenue fell 21% to $634 million. Total revenue fell 12% to $996 million. In the Regional Media division, circulation revenue fell 4% to $98 million, ad revenue fell 13% to $388 million, and total revenue fell 10% to $511 million. EBITDA at the Metros fell 26% to $76 million and in Regional it fell 16% to $133 million.

In 2013-14, ignoring the restructure of Regional Media into Australian Community Media, the corresponding figures were as follows: Metro Media circulation revenue grew 9% to $228 million while ad revenue fell 14% to $460 million and total revenue fell 9% to $803 million; Community Media circulation revenue fell 7% to $103 million while ad revenue fell 16% to $409 million and total revenue fell 15% to $530 million. On the EBITDA line, the Metros reported a 41% increase to $121 million while Community Media fell 17% to $152 million.
In terms of percentage growth and/or declines, from year to year, the comparison shows Fairfax outperforming the News Corp papers on most measures, counting both revenues and earnings. [my red bolding]

Financial Review 22 August 2014:

The Blue Book showed the average cost of employees at The Australian’s print operations was $178,256. That included associated costs and actual salary, but that still seemed higher than most of the ABC journalists the paper had slammed as overpaid. By comparison, the average cost of employees for the Daily Telegraph was $141,214. The toilers at the Herald Sun made do with $131,944, $125,135 for The Courier Mail, and $90,990 for smaller titles like The Geelong Advertiser. [my red bolding]

Monday 18 August 2014

Institute of Public Affairs accuses the Australian Broadcasting Commission of bias against coal and gas industries and calls for privatisation of public broadcasting


The somewhat notorious right-wing lobby group Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is again accusing the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) of bias – this time bias against the coal and gas industries.

It claims that the media analysis it contracted from iSENTIA (which examined a total of 2,359 online, radio and television broadcast reports/stories on energy issues) demonstrates this.

According to IPA coal featured in 452 (19.2%), renewable energy in 790 (33.5%) and CSG in 1,117 (47.4%) of these analysed reports between 15 September 2013 and 15 March 2014.

In an occasional paper on the topic, but not in the article by its director of communications which published in The Australian on 12 August 2014, it relies on these statistics in its call for the privatisation of the ABC:


So according to IPA the ABC showed no hint of bias in 1,026 of these reports/stories (or 43.49% of the total sample), reported favourably on the industries in question in 618 instances and unfavourably in 715.

Unfortunately for anyone reading the occasional paper it does not state whether the pie charts above were in the iSENTIA study document.

IPA states that the iSENTIA relied on CARMA International methodology in undertaking the analysis. This methodology relies in large part on qualitative (therefore sometimes subjective) measurements and is more commonly used to look at the public relations performance of businesses such as Ben & Jerry's Homemade Icecream or Kyocera Mobile Phones.

Somewhat strangely for a paper which claims it utilises an exclusive study conducted by the media monitoring firm iSentia on behalf of the Institute of Public Affairs. iSentia, formerly known as Media Monitors, is Australia’s largest and most highly respected media analysis firm, the study is not cited in the bibliography.

Tuesday 5 August 2014

One of Murdoch's minions attacks the ABC yet again


This was The Australian's Associate Editor (National Affairs), Chris Kenny, on 2 August 2014 telling readers that Aunty happy to ignore boat arrivals under Labor but cuts the Coalition no slack:

As the number of asylum boat ­arrivals escalated under the Gillard government there was significant self-censorship in much of the media. The national broadcaster, for instance, which has long held an almost obsessive preoccupation with the asylum-seeker issue and has a statutory duty to report matters of significance, often didn't find room in its news bulletins to tell us about boat ­arrivals.
When 14 boats arrived in the first week of May last year the relative lack of reporting on the ABC was astonishing….

I have listed all news items concerning asylum seekers that I could find which were published/broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) and News Corp's The Australian in May 2013 – readers can decide for themselves if they believe the ABC deliberately withheld news of asylum seeker boat arrivals when compared with reporting by The Australian.

Reporting by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in May 2013 – as recorded by Google and ProQuest

www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2012/s3752076.htm
May 5, 2013 - Abbott 'modifying expectations' on asylum seekers. Print Email. Australian Broadcasting ...

www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3749309.htm
May 7, 2013 - Normal News doesn't do that. If it is a really happy segment on the real news they make it really serious" - Hayley.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-06/customs...boat-arrivals/4671754
May 6, 2013 - Flying squad wanted for unexpected boat arrivals. Updated May 06, 2013 11:41:24 ... carrying asylum seekers until it arrived just outside Geraldton. (ABC News).

www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013...boat-arrivals/1126364
May 6, 2013 - Customs is calling for the creation of a flying squad to help back up small offices dealing with unexpected boat arrivals, such as the asylum seekers who landed ...

www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/...asylum-seekers.../4676448
May 8, 2013 - 'No advantage' policy may leave asylum seekers destitute: mental health experts. Download audio. Broadcast: ... 

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-11/asylum-seekers...after.../4683534
May 11, 2013 - Eighteen asylum seekers who escaped from a Darwin detention centre overnight ... Related Story: Asylum seekers escape from detention centre ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-11/aid-organisations...in.../4683472
May 11, 2013 - Aid organisations are bracing for cuts amid concern that Australia's overseas aid budget will again be used to house and feed asylum seekers

Roberts, George. ABC Premium News [Sydney] 12 May 2013. 
...water police have found an asylum seeker boat harboured in Bali that was
...water police have found an asylum seeker boat harboured in Bali that was
...boat voyage that killed 90 asylum seekers last year, has been found and arrested

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-13/is-stopping-the-boats.../4685444
May 13, 2013 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says a number of factors may be contributing to the current increase in asylum seeker boat arrivals, including the ...

www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3757525.htm
May 13, 2013 - JAMES GLENDAY: Most asylum seekers pay people smugglers between $7,000 and $20,000 to get to Australia. And about 25,000 ... 

Sewart, Phoebe. ABC Premium News [Sydney] 13 May 2013. 
...An Indonesian ferry used by asylum seekers to reach waters off Darwin has been
... An Indonesian ferry used by asylum seekers to reach waters off Darwin
... It was carrying 160 asylum seekers who are now at the Wickham

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-14/asylum-seekers...bay.../4689222
May 14, 2013 - ... resources and they're dealing with what is essentially the worst period of illegal boat arrivals that we have ever seen in our history." ... Connect with ABC News.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/charities-overwhelmed.../4692534
May 15, 2013 - Record numbers of boat arrivals have blown out the Government's asylum seeker budget by more than $3.2 billion. Since August, more than 18,000 asylum .

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3760182.htm
May 15, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Record numbers of boat arrivals have blown out the Government's asylum seeker ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/an-budget-foreign-aid.../4690380
May 15, 2013 - Video: Winners and losers (ABC News) · Australian budget .... The budget says that the number of asylum seeker boat arrivals will increase next year. There has ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-16/parliament-excises.../4693940
May 16, 2013 - Video: Parliament excises mainland from migration zone (ABC News) ... note graph shows the number of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia since 1976.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-16/boat-arrivals-by-year.../4694210
May 16, 2013 - A Parliamentary Library background note graph shows the number of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia since 1976.

www.radioaustralia.net.au/.../radio/...asylum-seekers-to.../1132032
May 16, 2013 - The Australian Government can now send all asylum seekers who arrive by boat to offshore processing centres.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-21/six-asylum-seekers.../4704448
May 21, 2013 - The Immigration Department of Immigration says four of six asylum seekers who ... Related Story: Asylum seekers recaptured after fleeing centre ....

www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/05/22/3764729.htm
May 22, 2013 - Vietnamese asylum seekers arriving in Australia are fleeing increased persecution in their home country, a VOICE advocate says.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-22/asylum-seeker-to-be.../4707258
May 22, 2013 - Fifty-four asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat are currently the subject of adverse security assessments. Manokala ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-23/asylum-seekers-on...at.../4707698
May 23, 2013 - Asylum seekers arrive by boat in Geraldton ... The arrival of this boat carrying asylum seekers in WA's Geraldton harbour in April hastened the push ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-23/unhcr-asylum-criticism/4707534
May 23, 2013 - Photo: The arrival of this boat  carrying asylum seekers in WA's Geraldton harbour in April hastened the push to change the migration zone laws. ... The laws passed last week allow the Government to send asylum seekers who ....

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3768511.htm
May 27, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... primarily aimed at covering the blowout in visa security assessments that followed the spike in irregular boat arrivals.

ABC Premium News [Sydney] 27 May 2013. 
...to the 2011 death of an asylum seeker in a detention centre on Cape York
...contributed to the 2011 death of an asylum seeker in a detention centre on Cape
...Pakistan before Mr Hussain sought asylum in Australia. He

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3769425.htm
May 28, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... The rebellion was the culmination of months of growing tension caused by a surge in boat arrivals, overcrowding, ...

www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3768622.htm
May 28, 2013 - Labor MPs will today discuss whether the Government should set out clearer information about how its no advantage policy for asylum seekers will be put in ...

www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3769313.htm
May 28, 2013 - The Immigration Department has faced a grilling on a number of fronts today as it grapples with an increasing numbers of asylum seekers arriving by boat ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-28/immigration...breaks.../4718730
May 28, 2013 - Related Story: Fears for asylum seekers after life jackets wash up on Cocos Island beach ... The Immigration Department says 231 asylum seekers have accepted taxpayer-funded repatriation packages to return to their home ....

Stewart, Phoebe. ABC Premium News [Sydney] 28 May 2013. 
... Note: Six Vietnamese asylum seekers who escaped from detention in Darwin
... Six Vietnamese asylum seekers who escaped from detention in Darwin remain on

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3770440.htm
May 29, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... cent increase promised is primarily aimed at covering the blowout in security assessments for irregular boat arrivals.

www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/.../asylum-seekers.../4718788
May 29, 2013 - So where are we at in terms of protecting asylum seekers? And how does the current no advantage system impact asylum seekers on mainland ...

ABC Premium News [Sydney] 29 May 2013. 
...The Immigration Department say 25 asylum seekers who have escaped from
...recently a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers escaped from detention in Darwin,

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-29/human-rights...over.../4721390
May 29, 2013 - She has also questioned whether the information given to asylum seekers about their legal rights when they first arrive ... Department about the Government's new enhanced screening process for asylum seekers arriving by boat. ....

ABC Premium News [Sydney] 30 May 2013. 
...are negotiating with an asylum seeker who has climbed onto the roof of the
...are negotiating with an asylum seeker who has climbed onto the roof of the

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/ambassador...boats/4726842
May 31, 2013 - The Coalition will push ahead with its policy to turn back asylum seekerboats despite an Indonesian government representative saying the proposal is not ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/koser-afghanistan.../4725706
May 31, 2013 - Asylum seeker boats on Australia's horizon ... this September, I certainly wouldn't be raising false hopes about stopping boats any time soon. ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/indonesia-ambassador.../4726714
May 31, 2013 - Indonesia ambassador and Coalition at odds on turning back boats policy. Updated May 31, 2013 19:00:00 ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/ambassador-says.../4726842
May 31, 2013 - Related Story: Fears for asylum seekers after life jackets wash up on Cocos ... Indonesia's Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat Kesoema says boats should be turned back to the countries where asylum seekers are from, ....

Reporting by The Australian newspaper in May 2013 – as recorded by Google and ProQuest

Wilson, Lauren. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 02 May 2013: 2. 
... THREE large asylum-seeker boats together carrying
...in which 3112 asylum-seekers sailed to Australia
...Drurey revealed one young asylum-seeker, who was formerly

www.theaustralian.com.au/national.../story-e6frgd0x-1226634223906
May 3, 2013 - And unregulated inflows of economic migrants and asylum-seekers are .....

EXCLUSIVE. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 May 2013: 6. 
...has put the needs of asylum-seekers above the needs of Australian citizens
...government provides free legal advice for asylum-seekers. The cost
...ruled that offshore processing of asylum-seekers is subject to review by

www.theaustralian.com.au/national.../story-fn59niix-1226636706521
by Ben Packham - May 7, 2013 - There are more than 10,000 asylum-seekers in the community on bridging visas, .....

blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/.../theaustralian/.../labors_greatest_failin...
May 8, 2013 - Boat arrivals are reaching unprecedented levels, with more than 8,000asylum seekers arriving since the end of January when Julia Gillard announced the ..

www.theaustralian.com.au/...boats/story-fn9hm1gu-1226637230708
May 8, 2013 - The asylum-seekers, who were passengers on four separate boats, included 34 ......

www.theaustralian.com.au/...of.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226637157508
by Rick Morton - May 8, 2013 - Asylum-seekers arrive at Christmas Island yesterday, as it was announced families .....

Alford, Peter. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 08 May 2013: 1. 
...year. The asylum-seekers, intercepted at Anyer, on
...the largest group of asylum-seekers to Australia over more than
...Zafar's network sent asylum-seekers with false papers through

www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/.../story-fn558imw-1226637914748
May 9, 2013 - Intended or not, Rudd's policy was an invitation to people-smugglers to expand their business plan and put people on boats to give Australia a try. Intellectuals ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...asylum-seekers.../story-fn59niix-12266383...
by Ben Packham - May 9, 2013 - The Australian revealed thousands of asylum-seekers will be left in financial limbo when the government begins processing a huge backlog of claims under its ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../boats.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226637904226
May 9, 2013 - So far this year, 13 asylum boats have been intercepted near Darwin, a vast distance .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/...to.../story-e6frg71x-1226637906727
May 9, 2013 - THE arrival of asylum-seeker boats in Australian waters has become so commonplace it rarely figures in the news.

www.theaustralian.com.au/...to.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226637949764
May 9, 2013 - ... thought to be responsible for sending at least 40 boats to Australia since 2008 and .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../asylum-seekers.../story-fn558imw-12266388...
May 10, 2013 - Most of the asylum-seekers who have been driven to this condition of poverty and despair will go on to become permanent members of the Australian community ...

Wilson, Lauren. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 10 May 2013: 2. 
...issue bridging visas to asylum-seekers that strip away
...scheme payments to asylum-seekers who fail their primary
...campaign run by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in a

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../asylum-seekers.../story-fn59niix-1226641265...
May 13, 2013 - THE Bali port stand-off between 77 asylum-seekers and Indonesian authorities has ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...asylum-seekers/story-fn9hm1gu-12266415...
by Rick Morton - May 14, 2013 - THE influx of asylum-seekers in desperate need of support while living in the ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../asylum-seekers.../story-fn59niix-1226642380...
May 14, 2013 - ELEVEN asylum-seekers have made it by boat to Arnhem Land and will be transferred ...

Wilson, Lauren. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 14 May 2013: 5. 
...advocates have warned that asylum-seekers released into the community without
...campaign co-ordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said thousands
...few places to ensure all asylum-seekers had access to language training

www.theaustralian.com.au/...rate.../story-fnhi8df6-1226642542557
May 15, 2013 - With more than 3000 asylum-seekers arriving by boat a month and Labor's .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../i.../story-e6frg6so-1226643269311
May 15, 2013 - Abbas is fighting his extradition to Australia, where authorities want to prosecute him on 27 charges related to people smuggling and three boats which were ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...to.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226644448709
May 16, 2013 - ... the migration zone and all asylum-seekers who arrive anywhere in Australia will be

www.theaustralian.com.au/national.../story-fn59niix-1226645640159
by Mark Schliebs - May 18, 2013 - ... to travel on boats to Australia -- instead of the heads of the smuggling syndicates. .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/...want.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226646324394
by Rick Morton - May 20, 2013 - More than 11,662 asylum-seekers are living in the community on bridging visas .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/...self.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226647806354
May 21, 2013 - THE longer asylum-seekers spend in detention centres, the higher the rates of ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...of.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226651322528
May 27, 2013 - ASYLUM-seekers stuck in the remote detention facility on Nauru are now having their ...

Maley, Paul. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 May 2013: 1. 
...heightened fears many more asylum-seekers will be lost at sea
...to official concerns asylum-seekers are taking greater
...that were luring asylum-seekers to Australia. 

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/.../story-e6frg6z6-1226653255546
May 30, 2013 - Iranians were among the asylum-seekers whose boat was stopped in Bali on the weekend. Picture: AP Source: AP. QASIM Ali says he was illiterate when he ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...boats.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226654654928
May 31, 2013 - But he said asylum-seeker boats should be turned back to other countries, .....