Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Five million listeners every week tune into our community radio stations. That's 450 stations across the country doing wonderful community service, be it in times of crisis—during COVID, bushfires, floods—connecting multicultural communities or providing that diversity that doesn't exist in the large commercial networks. That's why I'm so pleased to be speaking on this bill, which gives further support and certainty to our community radio stations.

At the moment, the renewal process for licences for our community radio stations sometimes gives unnecessary stress or uncertainty. This bill delivers the certainty they need. It also makes sure that we no longer have that fear of the renewal process being a competitive process, which prevents radio stations from making some of the long-term investments and plans they need. It also clarifies the powers of ACMA to make sure that, when they're issuing new licenses, they can do that with authority. Third, it ensures that there's flexibility for ACMA. If they need to issue a temporary licence or provide flexibility when they're looking at how to handle those licences, they have that power.

Again, the bill clarifies the power of ACMA and the discretion it has to limit the number of temporary community broadcast licensees that can share a particular frequency. There's nothing worse than driving and listening to your favourite station and having a level of interference. Again, this bill protects from that happening. It's backed in by an additional $4 million per year of funding to make sure that we have more investment in our community radio stations. The member for Mayo so brilliantly outlined how well they do with so little funds. We all know that our community radio stations make a couple of dollars stretch a very long way. They're not just driven by a profit motive; they're driven by the motive of ensuring they provide an essential community service.

I want to pay tribute to the Minister for Communications, who is a very strong advocate for community radio, which is demonstrated by the fact that she has chosen to be here for so much of this debate. She has also fought for additional funding for community radio, and the first piece of legislation she is putting through this parliament is backing our community radio sector.

As many have done before me, I want to talk about the wonderful community radio stations in my electorate. The biggest community radio station in Western Australia is RTRFM, which was founded about 40 years ago by students at the University of Western Australia. Why is it RTR? That's because they thought it was a pirate radio station, so 'Arty, arrgh!' FM was founded by the students of the University of Western Australia. Now, some 40 years on, they run more than 50 different programs every single week. They are a key partner of the Perth Festival, the biggest arts festival in Western Australia. They are funded by the community, and each year their radiothon brings in thousands of dollars to provide this essential service.

I'd encourage anyone who wants to see why this station is loved so much to tune into 92.1 FM or go online at rtrfm.com.au. People in my community do love this station. It's based on Beaufort Street in Perth. It is part of the community. They are constantly holding community events. I was surprised to learn that their average listener tunes in for 11.6 hours a week. That's dedication. They have 42,000 people listening to their breakfast program every single day. Over each month, 262,000 people tune in to listen to RTRFM and, when it comes to the music that they choose, 73 per cent of the music that RTR plays is from local Western Australian artists. It is the launching pad for so many bands and musicians in Western Australia. To the team at RTR, I say: thank you for that.

They recently did a social impact study which showed:

RTRFM is one of the main voices for arts and culture in WA …

It also showed:

85% say listening to RTRFM makes them feel like part of a community.

This lessens that isolation and distance that has become too common in our community and makes sure that we have stronger communities, that we connect people and that people feel that, when they call in, they're actually talking to a friend on air.

I've been proud to support RTRFM through the Stronger Communities Program, which has given them new performance spaces for artists. I've been pleased to attend there with the now Leader of the House to talk to them about investing in the arts. I'm sure that sometime in this term of government I will be able to get the Minister for Communications in for a chat. I've also been pleased to attend In The Pines with the now Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. I encourage all members, if they find themselves on the West Coast, to visit RTRFM. I'm sure they will be very happy to have any member of this parliament in for a chat. I want to give a shout out to chair, James Hall; general manager, Simon Miraudo; and presenter and wonderful part of the Perth community, Danae Gibson. I even learnt yesterday that a member of the press gallery, Sarah Ison, is a former volunteer at RTRFM. Again, this shows that these community radio stations across the country are the training ground for some of the best journalists in this country. I also note that community radio is well served by Amanda Copp from the Community Radio Network, based here in the press gallery.

In conclusion, I want to note some of the wonderful Western Australian community radio stations, including Radio Fremantle at 107.9 FM and Curtin Radio at 100.1 FM, which plays everyone's favourite classics and is definitely worth tuning into if you want to go back a few decades in time and listen to some wonderful classic music. I also want to note 6EBA FM world radio, based in North Perth in my electorate, and 89.7FM, the sound of the northern suburbs. They are all wonderful community radio stations that I know want to see us in this place pass this legislation to show how much we support them.

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