In this report, three Asia-Pacific media specialists have produced three perspectives on the history, dynamics and politics of funding of the ABC’s international efforts over the past two decades.

They show that, while Australian politicians and ABC leaders themselves have been distracted by domestic and institutional issues, other state-owned media organisations—such as China’s—have expanded their footprint across Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.

Australian Government decisions over the past decade haven’t just meant that Australia has trod water while this happened—in fact, we have stepped back and silenced broadcasts and local content while others have stepped up.