Communications Minister Richard Alston yesterday called on the ABC to rebalance its spending priorities following reports that the broadcaster spent $3 million on company cars.' The Australian 12aug03

This attack is just cheap populism, worthy of a shock jock but not of a government minister. Whatever one thinks of the practice of salary sacrifice for a company car, they are now a standard part of salary packages for senior executives throughout industry, including commercial broadcasting and the public service. Indeed senior executives of Senator Alston's department, and the Senator himself, are also entitled to "private plated vehicles" - parliamentary speak for company cars.

Salaries earned by ABC senior executives are substantially less that those earned by people carrying out similar roles in commercial broadcasting. They are comparable to people holding similar positions in the public service, including senior executives in the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, for which Senator Alston was until recently the responsible minister.

The real test of the ABC's efficient use of its funds is how it compares to its commercial counterparts, and to similar public service broadcasters overseas. The ABC runs for far less than its commercial counterparts in Australia, and a study by the Macquarie Bank shows that the ABC is one of the most poorly funded public service broadcasters in the developed world.

Darce Cassidy