{"id":29023,"date":"2017-11-04T10:41:36","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T14:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=29023"},"modified":"2017-11-04T10:41:36","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T14:41:36","slug":"why-australia-must-restore-shortwave-radio-to-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/why-australia-must-restore-shortwave-radio-to-the-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"“Why Australia must restore shortwave radio to the Pacific”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Source: Devpolicy Blog<\/a> via Mike Bird)<\/p>\n

On our Australian doorstep is an amazing place, Papua New Guinea. Seven of us were there for the month of August, exploring a remote region of islands and atolls in the Massim district of Milne Bay Province by boat, visiting places most people would not think of seeing.<\/p>\n

[…]As Australians we were warmly received everywhere. Australia was the PNG administrator for decades and has left many good things in place. The Australian influence was there in diverse ways, including an inspired wooden Hills Hoist and outdoor bench setting at Boagis village, way out at the extreme end of PNG territory.<\/p>\n

[…]But there was a worrying side that we shared. We visited many remote islands where basic services are deplorable, particularly their health services. At one sub-provincial health centre in Guasopa village [Woodlark Island], they had nothing but Panadol. We shared our first aid resources and knowledge, and treated those we could with spare drugs we had brought from Australia. There are so many issues facing PNG that we despaired at its future prospects.<\/p>\n

Australia is the lucky country, but right now New Guinea is not. We were most surprised and quite angry to learn that Radio Australia no longer transmits to the region, or even the wider Pacific. One small service that Australia could offer is the return of shortwave radio.<\/p>\n

The island of Panaeati, south of Misima, is typical of many we visited. It has a population of 2,080 people, many well educated, and fluent in English. The missions and the former Australian administration are responsible for this. Our contacts there expressed great disappointment at the loss of Radio Australia services in January 2017. So much so, that they discussed the prospect of raising a petition at local government level to the Australian government.[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click here to read the full article at the DevPolicy Blog.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Source: Devpolicy Blog via Mike Bird) On our Australian doorstep is an amazing place, Papua New Guinea. Seven of us were there for the month of August, exploring a remote region of islands and atolls in the Massim district of Milne Bay Province by boat, visiting places most people would not think of seeing. […]As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,960,3,43],"tags":[2924,6111,6610,368,1920],"class_list":["post-29023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-abc-cuts","tag-abc-shortwave","tag-mike-bird","tag-radio-australia","tag-radio-australia-cuts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-7y7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22689,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/radio-australia-to-end-shortwave-broadcast-service-on-january-31-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":29023,"position":0},"title":"Radio Australia to end shortwave broadcast service on January 31, 2017","author":"Thomas","date":"December 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Like many SWLing Post readers, I'm a huge fan of Radio Australia's service on 9,580 kHz. For ages, listening to their news headlines over shortwave has been a part of my morning routine. I've been listening to Radio Australia since I was 8 years old. I'm going to miss this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"radio-dial","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33121,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/rnz-and-the-chinese-shortwave-foray-into-the-pacific\/","url_meta":{"origin":29023,"position":1},"title":"RNZ and the “Chinese shortwave foray into the Pacific”","author":"Thomas","date":"July 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Radio New Zealand via Mike Hansgen) China is taking up a lot of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's former shortwave radio frequencies into the Pacific region. In response to budget cuts, the ABC last year ceased shortwave broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region ahead of a transition to FM transmission. Since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Pacific-Islands-Vanuatu-Fiji-Caledonia-Samoa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Pacific-Islands-Vanuatu-Fiji-Caledonia-Samoa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Pacific-Islands-Vanuatu-Fiji-Caledonia-Samoa.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Pacific-Islands-Vanuatu-Fiji-Caledonia-Samoa.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41071,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/abcs-review-of-shortwave-broadcasting-released\/","url_meta":{"origin":29023,"position":2},"title":"ABC’s review of shortwave broadcasting released","author":"Thomas","date":"December 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Bird, who shares a link to RadioInfo that summarizes the recently-released \"Review of Australian Broadcasting Services in the Asia Pacific\" by the ABC. Micheal notes: So what do we take from this report? No recommendations. The status quo continues although there were many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Shepparton.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Shepparton.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Shepparton.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33525,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/australian-foreign-minister-says-her-party-did-not-support-shutting-down-shortwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":29023,"position":3},"title":"Australian Foreign Minister says her party did not support shutting down shortwave","author":"Thomas","date":"August 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: RadioInfo via William Lee and Dennis Dura) Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told [ ABC's Radio National ] RN's Fran Kelly that her party did not support the ABC's decision to switch off short wave services in the Pacific. \"It is not a decision of the Australian government,\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Shepparton-10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Shepparton-10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Shepparton-10.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23801,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/radio-australias-final-day-broadcasting-on-shortwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":29023,"position":4},"title":"Radio Australia’s final day broadcasting on shortwave","author":"Thomas","date":"January 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As I write this post, I'm listening to Radio Australia on 9,580 and 12,065 kHz. Other than the sports reports and weather, world news is chock-full of stories--many of which are quite sad. This will likely be the last morning I listen to Radio Australia on shortwave. SWLing Post contributor,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Titan-SDR-Radio-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Titan-SDR-Radio-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Titan-SDR-Radio-Australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Titan-SDR-Radio-Australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10345,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/the-gutting-of-radio-australia\/","url_meta":{"origin":29023,"position":5},"title":"“The Gutting of Radio Australia”","author":"Thomas","date":"July 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Inside Story) We\u2019re sitting on the grass in the village of Matangi on the island of Futuna. This is one of the more isolated communities in Vanuatu, a small group of houses on a small island at the southeastern extreme of the archipelago. \u201cWe rely a lot on Radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ABC-Radio-Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ABC-Radio-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29023\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}