Australian consumers are the fall guys as cuts to the ABC have forced the cancellation of its consumer affairs show The Checkout.

Deep cuts to our independent broadcaster means rip-off merchants are not brought to account and ordinary people are the victims.

In May, the Turnbull Liberal Government in its continuing war against the ABC announced the freeze on the much loved broadcaster’s annual funding indexation from July 2019 – a move which will cost the broadcaster $84 million.

The Checkout was about to produce its seventh series when the axe fell on Friday. The show was nominated for Most Popular Lifestyle Program at the recent Logies but was beaten by Ten’s The Living Room.

Australians trust the ABC; and they were able to trust The Checkout to inform them of unscrupulous rip-off merchants.

The move to axe the show has been lambasted online by fans of the show, particularly the ABC’s later claim that the show was only in “hiatus”.

Emails to The Checkout receive the message, “Thanks for emailing The Checkout. Unfortunately the ABC has cancelled the show, so we won't be able to reply to your message. Since the chance of The Checkout returning is roughly the same as the chance of getting an easy-to-understand mobile phone plan, if you have a consumer query, like we always say, you might need to shop around.”

Even the independent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has tweeted its concern saying, “The show’s producers, writers & hosts have done an incredible job over the years informing Australians about consumer rights & holding businesses to account. We need shows like The Checkout.”