Pacific

Pacific concern at Radio Australia cuts

16:23 pm on 19 August 2014

An analyst with the Australian think tank, the Lowy Institute, says there is huge concern across the Pacific at the cuts made to services provided by Radio Australia and the Australia Network.

The ABC was forced into making cuts after the Australian government ended a long-term TV contract.

The broadcaster decided to make the cuts in its international arm, which now has just 40 percent of its previous budget.

Dozens of jobs are going, with a number of prominent presenters and journalists already out of work.

A non resident fellow at the Lowy Institute, Tess Newton-Cain, says Radio Australia is vital to people's understanding of critical events in the Pacific.

"There is a huge concern across the region that people are losing what has been and what continues to be a really vital resource."

Tess Newton-Cain of the Lowy Institute