Sarah Hanson-Young on local content quotas and ABC funding plus proposed changes at the State Library of Victoria

Last week, the federal government passed legislation that will require video streaming services with more than 1 million Australian subscribers to invest 10 percent of their Australian expenditure or 7.5 percent of their gross Australian revenue into new Australian productions each year. The bill passed with the support of the Greens, and as part of the negotiations, the ABC will also receive $50 million in additional funding over 3 years to spend on locally made children’s and drama content. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, arts spokeswoman for The Greens, joins us to talk about the bills and about Federal arts priorities in 2026.And reports suggest that the State Library of Victoria will cut its reference librarians from 25 to 10, reduce its publicly available computers and remove their children’s and family engagement officers in a new round of reforms. The Library has pushed back against the reporting.Gideon Haigh, award-winning writer and passionate advocate for the library, shares his perspectives on the changes, the messages he's heard from current and former staff, and mounts the case for the importance of the state institution.Our track of the week is Evensong, part 1 by JJJJJerome Ellis

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