Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to make a contribution in relation to the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Media Reform) Bill 2016, particularly after the contribution by my electoral neighbour the member for Indi. There is only a mountain range between us, but we share many similar interests in the way we service our two electorates. Both electorates typically rely very heavily on the regional media networks to keep our communities informed, particularly during times of natural disaster. The member for Indi, I think, touched on the important role of the local journalists in her community, and equally that applies to Gippsland, where we do depend very heavily on our local newspaper journalists, television services and the regional ABC. As we approach the summer season and the grassed areas of our region have had spectacular growth throughout the spring, the likelihood of a severe fire season is something that I know the member for Indi is conscious of, and I am also in Gippsland. The role that our regional ABC will play, particularly through radio broadcasts, in alerting our residents in times of natural disaster is something that we are greatly appreciative of. Equally I am appreciative of the role that our commercial radio station plays now as an emergency services broadcaster, letting people know of impending natural disasters, particularly during the summer season.

I have had direct personal experience in the local media. I started my career as a newspaper journalist at the Gippsland Times in Sale in the order of 30 years ago. The transformation which has occurred in the media market just in that 30 years has been quite extraordinary to see. The rate of change has been something I guess no-one could have forecast only as recently as 1986, when I started my career. I went on to work in regional television as well, and the transformation in the regional television networks has also been quite spectacular and has given rise to the need for this amendment to the broadcasting legislation. There is a very important role for regional media, as the member for Indi rightly indicated, to hear local voices telling local stories. In our regional communities that role is often filled by the ABC. Only last week I had the opportunity to be in Yackandandah, where ABC Regional—

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