The beast is out of its cage.

Crawling from the woodwork, blinking gingerly in the autumn sunlight, the Federal Budget hangover is seeping through the pores of Australia right now. All through the community, scruffy, bleary-eyed kids are emerging from dark doorways, inexplicably wrapped in ridiculous fur coats with giant cups of coffee uttering, What the hell happened last night?

Well, brace yourself, kids. Last night the Federal Government failed to deliver the funding needed to keep all of Australia’s community digital radio services running. There remains to be a $1.4 million gap between the necessary and actual government funding for community radio’s digital future.

So what does this mean?

It means as much as we allow it to mean. And with your support, we can make sure  that’s minimal, because we’re going to continue the fight.

“Today is a sad day for community radio, but we’re not giving up.” – Adrian Basso, CBAA President

Mainly, we want to thank everyone who signed the petition, sent a letter to an MP, tweeted about it, shared the campaign with friends, #digitalfuture-ed. Over 42,000 people have joined the campaign and thousands of emails have been sent directly to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, the Treasurer, the Minister for Finance and other MPs.

There are no white flags here. The best thing about community radio is the community, and we continually prove how strong that is, every single day we broadcast great radio on FBi and community stations around the country. This campaign is even more proof.

“Community radio is the soul of Australian broadcasting. It provides vital services to communities right across the country. But the Federal Government hasn’t been able to see that. But we won’t give up the fight for a digital future for community radio – and I hope you won’t either.”

Last night’s budget was a set-back, but we won’t let it be a death sentence. Community radio is too important. Decisions on the future of digital community radio services will be made over the coming weeks and the CBAA is seeking urgent talks with Minister Stephen Conroy to discuss the implications of the budget and options for community digital radio.

You are the reason we’re here, and you are the reason we’re not going anywhere.

This is not the end of community radio on digital. It is a setback, certainly. But it’s a setback that we foresaw, pondered, stressed over, fought against and conceded to together. And we’re still together – with our recovery coffees and our weary heads – we’ll keep fighting together for a digital future for our community and communities everywhere.

THANKYOU x

READ :: The Flog’s guide to the Commit To Community Radio campaign

LISTEN :: Adrian Basso’s full interview with Radio Adelaide this morning