The Commission of Audit, which has been formed by the federal government to identify opportunities to sell public assets and slash government spending, has held meetings with SBS, as revealed at a Senate enquiry by Tony Shepherd, head of the audit body.
Tony Shepherd refused to comment on a suggestion by New South Wales Labor Senator Sam Dastyari that the only reason he had to meet with SBS representatives was because the network was either ‘on the block’ for sale or in order to investigate how to implement SBS’s partially private funding model to the ABC.
Mr Shepherd said SBS, Australia’s second public broadcaster, which receives two-thirds of its $270 million funding from the federal government, initiated the meeting, however an SBS spokesperson would not comment on any details.
The Commission of Audit is due to file an interim report to the federal government by the end of this month. Medibank Private, Australia Post, and other public utilities are candidates for privatisation, as the Abbott government is preparing the ground for sell offs in order to, as it claims, raise funds and reduce the deficit.
Source: Fairfax Media