Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Given the minister now classes 10 per cent seats as marginal, it is an interesting reflection of how much trouble they think they are in given the splendour of Prime Minister Abbott's great work in leading your government.

I rise to speak on behalf of residents I represent in this place to voice their and my concern about the way in which SBS managed the production and promotion of its program Struggle Street. Last week in the House I raised my concern that the production company responsible for Struggle Street, KEO Films, failed to obtain the informed consent of the program participants. These were experienced filmmakers and TV broadcasters dealing with inexperienced and vulnerable participants who were not provided with copies of the release forms once they were signed. Participants were not offered independent legal advice before consenting to be filmed. Is he concerned about the ethical breaches I outlined in the House last week? Has he raised these breaches with SBS? Does he intend to follow this matter up and can he report back on the outcome of these inquiries?

I also ask the minister if he supports the public broadcaster in threatening legal action directed entirely at the mayor of Blacktown City Council—action that, again, concentrates on the individual and not on the council itself—because the mayor dared to raise serious concerns about the way the program was produced and promoted. Does the minister believe it is appropriate for public broadcasters to attempt to strong arm public officials in this way? And would the minister personally accept similar legal action targeting him, given his recent criticisms of the conduct of experienced journalists with another public broadcaster, the ABC? On this point I ask: why does he feel it is more important to object to the way that Emma Alberici and Leigh Sales hold public officials to account on their respective programs but then claim he cannot influence the decisions of the SBS board when they blatantly demean and ridicule my constituents, some of them in personally vulnerable circumstances, in the way they did via their promotions for Struggle Street?

It is nearly two years since the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications brought down its report on IT pricing regimes imposed on businesses and consumers. Does the minister intend to respond to this report by the time Apple brings in iPhone 7?

Finally, and on another matter, the minister is well aware of the significant interest that exists, particularly among sports fans, for free-to-air TV being broadcast in high definition quality. Earlier this year, I raised this matter in the House. I understand the minister has undertaken a public consultation process on this matter. Can he inform the House on the status of these consultations? Can sports fans expect to watch the NRL and AFL grand finals in the splendour of HD quality this year?

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