Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, as you know, the Turnbull government has announced a landmark package of comprehensive media reforms. This package of reforms will strengthen the protections for families and for children in relation to exposure to gambling advertising, provide substantial financial relief to enable the broadcasting sector to adapt to a changing landscape, and recognise the changing consumer viewing patterns for high-quality Australian content. I am particularly pleased that this is a package that seeks to preserve and enhance the viability of Australian media organisations who are under threat from foreign tech giants. I also note that tonight, CEOs of every major Australian entertainment company are here in Parliament House supporting this package. It is indeed a major achievement, unheralded in my lifetime, that a government has come up with a media reform package that has the support of every single major media player in Australia. I am sure that you will agree that this is a package that is unabashedly pro-Australian media, pro-Australian voices and pro-Australian stories.

We as a government have listened to community concerns about the impact of gambling on children who just want to watch live sport for the thrill and love of the game, not be exposed to odds and other gambling advertising. From my perspective, I know my constituents will welcome the further gambling advertising restrictions in this package as a community dividend from these comprehensive broadcasting reforms. As you know, Minister, the package will also provide relief for broadcasters by abolishing the cumbersome broadcasting fees charged to free-to-air networks from the bygone era when they occupied a dominance in the market, replacing them with a spectrum charge more appropriate to their use of terrestrial broadcasting spectrum. Further, the government proposes to abolish the two-out-of-three media ownership rule and the 75 per cent reach rule to reflect the current state of the market and allow media organisations to configure themselves in the way they see fit. Important protections against too much concentration of ownership will remain in the form of the 5/4 independent voice rule, the one-to-a-market rule for television, and the two-to-a-market rule for radio.

I have on a number of occasions heard the Labor Party, and, in particular, the Member for Greenway, be critical of the government's media reform proposals. Labor said the original proposal to reform just the ownership rules was piecemeal. They called for a comprehensive approach.

My understanding is that whilst the previous proposal was important and enjoyed the support of most of the media industry, the government has now put forward a very comprehensive and holistic package. It contains the abolition of licence fees, a new spectrum charge, changes to the anti-siphoning scheme and list, further restrictions on gambling advertising in live sport—

See this speech in context