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Doing smart stuff with shortwave in the South Pacific
Posted By Graeme Dobell on April 27, 2017 @ 06:00
Pick the anomaly in this list of what Australia does and desires in the South Pacific:
Number 5 is the clanger. The ABC Board decision to mute Radio Australia’s (RA) voice in the South Pacific trashes Oz interests.
The ABC exits as the region’s needs increase. The Pacific’s geopolitical potpourri is ‘crowded and complex’ with implications for ‘stability, security and cohesion in the region.’ (See the new ASPI report on the changing geopolitics of the South Pacific [7] by the ANU’s Joanne Wallis).
My previous column argued that a shortwave re-think [8] is the moment to end the ABC’s decade-long shredding of its Island service. A shortwave U-turn should embrace a new Pacific future: time to shift from exit to engagement, from retreat to renewal.
South Pacific Radio
Imagine the South Pacific not as a big ocean with specks of land, but rather visualise and hear a space full of overlapping radio voices with a musical soundtrack. Radio is vital. Radio is a key way the Pacific talks to itself: for example, the campaign to get MPs in Solomon Islands [9] to donate high-quality radios [10] (solar powered, battery or hand cranked) to their communities. Here are some reasons why the South Pacific shortwave service should be restored:
Papua New Guinea
PNG must be at the centre of Australia’s South Pacific understandings. The restatement of constant interests was the theme of the 8 April joint press conference [11] by Australian and Papua New Guinean leaders. This year’s an election year in PNG which, coupled with the chance of a Bougainville referendum in 2019 [12], ought to catch Canberra’s attention.
The ABC should read its own reports on the problems confronting PNG’s National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC): ‘Citizen Access to Information in PNG’ [13] and ‘Governance and the Role of Media in Papua New Guinea’ [14].
NBC’s issues are equally important for RA. A big problem causing a notable drop in PNG radio usage is the ‘worsening radio signal in some provinces.’ So the ABC’s answer to a deteriorating NBC signal is to turn off RA’s shortwave signal to PNG?
Rebuild RA and serve South Pacific media
RA’s South Pacific service must serve the region on every available platform from shortwave to social media. The rebuild needs lots of money and people—a cascading conversation involving many Pacific voices, not just a one-way Oz broadcast.
The ABC should be in the centre of the South Pacific ‘town square’ offering broadcast conversation and digital dialogue. The future isn’t a monotone old-media monologue. How might Aunty go about that task? Some ideas:
Australia’s has abiding interests in South Pacific states that are free, democratic and growing. An ABC that acts as an independent, accurate journal of record for the Islands will serve Australian policy priorities as well as Island needs.
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URL to article: /smart-stuff-shortwave-south-pacific/
URLs in this post:
[1] Defence White Paper: http://www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper/docs/2016-defence-white-paper.pdf
[2] security guarantee: /australias-guarantee-south-pacific/
[3] Solomon Islands: /saving-solomon-islands-crocodiles-14-years-ramsi/
[4] Papua New Guinea: http://dfat.gov.au/geo/papua-new-guinea/development-assistance/Pages/papua-new-guinea.aspx
[5] Pacific Islands: http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/corporate/portfolio-budget-statements/Documents/2016-17-australian-aid-budget-summary.pdf
[6] closed down shortwave broadcasts to the South Pacific: /silencing-australias-shortwave-voice-south-pacific/
[7] the changing geopolitics of the South Pacific: https://www.aspistrategist.ru/publications/crowded-and-complex-the-changing-geopolitics-of-the-south-pacific
[8] shortwave re-think: /dumb-oz-decision-south-pacific/
[9] MPs in Solomon Islands: http://www.sibconline.com.sb/north-west-choiseul-gets-radio-boost-through-sibc/
[10] high-quality radios: http://www.sibconline.com.sb/malaita-mp-buys-110-radios-for-constituency/
[11] 8 April joint press conference: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2017-04-08/joint-press-conference-hon-peter-oneill-cmg-mp-prime-minister-papua-new-guinea
[12] Bougainville referendum in 2019: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-24/bougainville-png-set-up-independence-commission/8208192
[13] ‘Citizen Access to Information in PNG’: http://www.abcinternationaldevelopment.net.au/activities/citizen-access-information-papua-new-guinea-2014
[14] ‘Governance and the Role of Media in Papua New Guinea’: http://www.abcinternationaldevelopment.net.au/sites/default/files/ABC_PNGpublication_final%281%29.pdf
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