Federation Square Sunday, 2000 to 4000 people turn up to protest against the Abbott Government #OurABC cuts.
People of all ages and backgrounds stood in the Melbourne sunshine to send a clear message to the Federal Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm):
No ifs, no buts, no ABC cuts.
Pre-rally, the crowd was entertained by a collection of theme songs/tunes from some of our dearest ABC shows, including Bananas In Pyjamas.
Corrinne Grant (@corinne_grant), a proud member of the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (@mediaalliance), MC’d at the rally and said:
:@corinne_grant gutting #OurABC is against everything we stand for as Australians #nofibs #auspol pic.twitter.com/jHviKWgyhC
— Jansant (@Jansant) November 23, 2014
Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten MP (@billshortenmp) headed up the list of speakers which included President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Ged Kearney (@GedKACTU) and Adam Bandt MP (@AdamBandt).
.@billshortenmp from JJJ we discovered Australian rock #OurABC #nofibs #auspol pic.twitter.com/1ZA9MnKpkJ — Jansant (@Jansant) November 23, 2014
Bill Shorten MP:
In philosophical discussion, in science and the arts, in political satire and the relentless pursuit of vested interests, our ABC has few peers on the planet.
Ged Kearney gave an hilarious speech full of puns on show names of the ABC, prompting MC Corrine Grant to urge the crowd to call the pun police.
A repeat offender, Kearney’s puns didn’t end with her speech.
The Greens were also well represented at the rally with Adam Bandt being joined by Greens state candidate for Melbourne Ellen Sandell (@ellensandell) and Federal Senator Scott Ludlam (@SenatorLudlam).
The rally was organised by Friends of the ABC and the Community and Public Sector union (@CPSUnion), which represents many of the ABC workers most at risk of loosing their jobs.
People joined the rally for many different reasons which included:
- Protect trustworthy news and current affairs.
- Ensure vital regional and rural content is maintained.
- Aussie kids deserve Aussie produced shows.
- Vital emergency broadcasts.
- An independent media voice.
- etc, etc, etc
The Guardian journalist Van Badham (@vanbadham) led the Banana Block.
The Community and Public Sector union (CPSU) handed out postcards which they hope will flood Turnbull’s desk, their Twitter handle is @CPSUnion if you want to get in on the act.
Comparison of twitter followers for news – It’s #OurABC #Melbourne #Auspol https://t.co/Bsg9s2Ntlh
— John Englart EAM (@takvera) November 23, 2014
#ABC and #SBS reflect “our national soul”: @billshortenmp on #OurABC #SaveSBS http://t.co/iSZhQNhWm3 #SaveOurABC pic.twitter.com/JU6Os4PIHU
— Matthew Rimmer (@DrRimmer) November 23, 2014
At the conclusion of the rally, Bill Shorten MP held a press conference about Abbott and Turnbull’s cuts to our ABC.