The Wire

Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan today announced 8.2 million dollars in extra funding for the community radio sector, to be spent on transmission costs over the next four years, and for training purposes. Community Broadcasting Association of Australia president Paul Terdich says while the money is welcome it ignores two key areas where funding had been requested, programming and infrastructure. He says that community station funding has declined 43% in the past eight years because of the huge growth in the number of stations, growth that hasn’t been matched by funding increases.