Interview with Busco and Linden, SWR 99.9FM Western Sydney

CO-HOST, BUSCO: We have been outside here at SWR 99.9FM celebrating the grand reopening of our brand new studios, all the formalities have been done, the ribbon cutting has been had and we are lucky enough to have with us in the brand new shiny SWR studios, the Minister for Greenway and more importantly, the Federal Minister for Communications, the Honorable Michelle Rowland. Minister Rowland - thank you so much for coming today.

MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: It's fantastic to be here.

BUSCO: Would help me that quote because I throw it out all the time - I stole it from you! Stronger community radio makes for stronger...?

ROWLAND: Strong community radio makes for strong communities.

BUSCO: It's lovely to be talking to you in a studio instead of a broadcast van outside.

ROWLAND: That was like a year ago.

BUSCO: I know it was a while ago now. Because we did I think about 50 weeks in that car port. And then I did about 30 weeks in the shed.

ROWLAND: Now, we're here in this beautiful, brand new place. It's got that new smell.

BUSCO: Yeah.

New car, new carpet smell.

BUSCO: So tell us a little bit more, because we did our grand opening out there. But we've also this morning, and we're so privileged to be able to be a part of this, we have launched the roadmap for community radio for the next 10 years. So the Roadmap 2033 is what it is, tell us a little bit more?

ROWLAND: Well, it's great that community broadcasting has come together to develop a strategic plan for the next decade.

This is exactly what the Albanese Government is looking for. This is about collaboration for governments, not just making decisions, and not just saying this needs to be looked at through a funding lens. It's all about what is the strategies, how people are going to meet outcomes, what does the community actually want to see delivered.

And I know this all sounds very self evident; you should listen to people before you engage in funding or before you make decisions. But that doesn't happen very often. What I think is so important about this roadmap for 2033 is that it's been delivered collaboratively between the various sectors of community broadcasting, it's got definite asks of government, it's got definite outcomes that are sought to be achieved.

In particular, I look at the examination of all the strategic issues; there's disruptions, there's the need to respond to increased media consolidation, there's increasing pressure on financial sustainability. Of course, community broadcasting relies primarily on sponsorships, as well as government funding and grants to keep it going. But understanding that environment is something that you don't see in every sector of this portfolio, and certainly not in every sector of our economy.

So I'm very grateful to everyone involved in community broadcasting, the CBAA, and its partners who put this together, because it enables me as Minister to make decisions on a really solid evidence base to understand where the sector wants to go. But also for taxpayers, knowing that the $20 million that we've got ongoing that has been funded through community broadcasting is going to be put to good use. That's important for accountability. But it's also important for your outcomes as a sector as well.

BUSCO: And for a personal note, as well, it's kind of nice for us here in community radio. I've been doing this for 15 years. But it's nice to know that the Federal Government cares, I guess. I mean, you've been out here numerous times come and visit in advance. So it's refreshing to us knowing moving forward to know that we're kind of recognized and valued. And that's sort of, as Ian mentioned before, a big part of the the roadmap moving forward as well.

ROWLAND: You're such an important part of the media ecosystem on a number of levels. Let's face it, being able to be on air and to broadcast - it actually consumes a very valuable public resource called 'spectrum'. Spectrum is used but not consumed. Licensing is often a vexed issue because of the value involved in it. But the fact is community broadcasting delivers on that. There's a social element of the return that we seek to get through broadcasting.

I did make in my comments as well, people said, when the world moves to more digitization media is all online, it's all digital. I believe in the broadcasting medium, it satisfies three key elements. It's stable, it's free, and it's ubiquitous - you can get it anywhere. It doesn't matter what your income is, what your postcode is, you're going to be able to enjoy it. That equality of opportunity is really central to this government.

I think it's also central to community broadcasting. I also mean it very sincerely when I say that this sector punches above its weight when it comes to media diversity. When we talk about diversity, it's not your diversity of ownership, its diversity of voices, of production of content, and also ensuring that anyone who seeks to have their voice amplified has an opportunity. That's what the hundreds of broadcasters throughout Australia are able to satisfy.

Of course, there's always going to be new and emerging needs, whether they be new migrant groups and new language groups that emerge, or people who are more isolated or people in external areas where a lot of other media, because of cost pressures, is shutting its doors. So, there is actually a really solid foundation for not only believing in community broadcasting and community radio, but supporting it as well. You deliver on so many good social outcomes.

The last one, of course, I want to mention we're going into bushfire season is when it comes to natural disasters. Community broadcasting performs such an important role there. You know, one of my people when I became Minister and I had colleagues who had become Minister for the first time, and it was a big thing to do your first 'thing' as Minister, like your first visit, your first overseas trip, your first actions as Minister. I took a little bit of time to think about it, and I decided I wanted to demonstrate something that was really meaningful. So I went to Braidwood FM, a community broadcaster, who broadcast basically nonstop for days, feeding information to the community, when just about every other form of communication had gone down. They saved people's lives. To me that said everything about community radio.

BUSCO: And we've had feedback here similar to that at SWR during some of the bushfires, people around different parts of the mountains over the West, where I mean, if everything else goes down, the last thing standing a radio airwaves, so it comes in.

LINDEN, CO-HOST: But it's not only the bushfires, I mean, look, look at the floods we've been through, look at the pandemic. Your support has enabled us to give our community a voice and the community are incredibly grateful for that. To be able to have the tools to broadcast through pandemics, bushfires, floods, brings the community together. It gives it that love feel. That's, I think, the essence of community radio.

BUSCO: Absolutely. It's locals, listening to locals - we get that feedback all the time. Minister Rowland, I know you're very busy and you have to go before I let you go on a you've got a really cool fundraiser coming up, tell us more.

ROWLAND: I do. This coming Thursday, I'm having my annual Pink Ribbon Morning tea raising money for breast cancer research. This year, it's on this coming Thursday at 10am at the pons community hub. So just next to The Ponds shopping center. It's very informal, it runs for about an hour. It's an opportunity to purchase merchandise to really get together. I actually don't like the term ‘networking’, it implies that you're trying to get something out of other people, but just to enjoy the company of other people. The main thing is to raise awareness, because of course, the best cure is detection and prevention. I think so many of us are busy in our everyday lives we forget to take care of ourselves. So, let's remind our mums, our daughters, our grandmothers, our aunts, people we love, to make sure they get tested because we want to basically make breast cancer mortality zero.

BUSCO: Big fundraiser coming up for Mr. Michelle Rowland on Thursday. I'm sure all of these will be on your Facebook page. Michelle Rowland, thank you so much for swinging by this morning. We really appreciate you being here today and your ongoing support. I'm sure we'll have a chat soon.