Extract from ABC News
Updated
Photo:
A shortwave radio supplier estimates more than 5,000 people regularly listen to ABC HF broadcasts. (ABC Rural: Carl Curtain)
An Australian outback tour operator says remote
travellers depend on the ABC's HF shortwave radio service for news,
weather and general information.
The ABC has been heavily criticised by Northern Territory residents since it announced in December it would save $1.9 million by cutting the transmission.
ABC Radio is currently broadcast throughout remote parts of Australia, as well as to international audiences in the Pacific islands.
Mick Hutton from Beadell Tours, who regularly travels through the western deserts with tourists, said there was no other service available to replace the shortwave.
"The ABC broadcast over that HF radio is about our only connection during daylight hours with what's going on in the world," he said.
"That's about the only news, reliable weather forecasts, including your emergency warnings for bushfires and cyclones."That's all you've got - there isn't anything else because there's no mobile phone service."
Mr Hutton said once the service ends, travellers would need to use a satellite phone to source news.
"There won't be any avenue for an emergency service broadcast and that's probably the most worrying," he said.
"There are all sorts of things that can be done notifying people but it's exceptionally difficult if the people you're trying to notify don't have the equipment to be notified on."
'At least 5,000' people tuning into ABC's shortwave radio services
A shortwave radio supplier estimates 5,000 people regularly use a shortwave in Australia and the Pacific to listen to ABC Radio.
Photo:
A cartoon from 'Friends of the ABC' regarding the decision to end the shortwave radio service. (Supplied: Philip Somerville )
Garry Cratt from Tecsun Radio Australia said the ABC should continue to provide people with basic information, especially those who cannot otherwise access other services.
"I think it's fair to say there would be several thousand in the Pacific that would be listening to Radio Australia on a daily basis," he said.
"Of course there are all those people in yachts and they're in an itinerant listening group, and then the stockmen as well.
"I'd say there is at least 5,000."
Mr Cratt took exception to the ABC's assertion that the shortwave radio is now 100-years-old and outdated.
He said his business recently shipped 500 radios to the Solomon Islands to be distributed to outlying villages.
"The Solomon Islands do have a fairly unreliable domestic shortwave service themselves but most people listen to Radio Australia," he said.
"A lot of the places that do receive Radio Australia, there is no power for a start, so they're relying on batteries and solar panels.
"The people that are listening, that will be affected, are those people who are maybe still back in the last century but that's not their fault."ABC Rural has contacted the ABC for comment.
In a previous statement, the ABC said "the move is in line with the national broadcaster's commitment to dispense with outdated technology and to expand its digital content offerings including DAB+ digital radio, online and mobile services, together with FM services for international audiences.
"The majority of ABC audiences in the Northern Territory currently access ABC services via AM and FM and all ABC radio and digital radio services are available on the VAST satellite service."
Earlier on Wednesday, NT Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy posted on social media that she was meeting the ABC's managing director Michelle Guthrie to discuss the shortwave.
"We listen to ABC, now you listen to Territorians," she tweeted.
The end of shortwave transmission services is scheduled for January 31.
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