Turnbull saves Peppa’s bacon
Peppa the Pig’s head is off the chopping block, according to communications minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The communications minister has quelled fears the beloved children’s show is bound for the abattoir, tweeting that the popular pig is safe from proposed ABC downsizing.
“Contrary to media rumours, Peppa’s is one snout we are happy to have in the ABC trough,” he wrote.
Fans of the pink pig panicked when ABC managing director Mark Scott warned the corporation couldn’t guarantee Peppa’s future beyond existing contracts.
“The services we provide depend on the funding envelope,” he told a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.
Some have since pitted Peppa against some of the ABC’s more expensive recruits, such as Q&A host Tony Jones, while a Facebook page entitled “Save Peppa Pig on ABC Australia” has also surfaced.
Treasurer Joe Hockey said he wasn’t a fan of Peppa, even though some of his children were.
“Given in our household I’ve watched so many bad episodes of Peppa Pig, I’m not a fan,” he told the Today Show on Thursday.
He said the ABC had not produced an efficiency dividend for up to 15 years, while every other area of government had.
Under the Abbott Government’s budget, the public broadcaster’s funding has been trimmed by one per cent over the next four years.
To complain about a one per cent cut was “frankly ridiculous”, Mr Hockey said.
It’s not the first time Peppa has courted controversy.
In 2013, columnist Piers Ackerman accused the program of pushing “a weird feminist line”.