John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to repeat what I said just before question time today—that is, I am absolutely horrified that the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has said on behalf of the Howard government that they are prepared to allow a media owner in Australia to own television stations, radio stations and newspapers, all in the one market, when our two biggest media companies already have a stranglehold on commercial media in Australia. That is a great threat to the public interest. It is a great threat to the future of our democracy and we all have to rise up and strike back in relation to this agenda.

I ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister to take a message back that it is not in Australia’s interest to allow PBL or News Limited to have so much control and to own newspapers, television stations and radio stations when they already have the monopoly on pay television in Australia and they have the most popular internet sites. It is absolute sophistry of the worst example to say that this is greater diversity. When you trace the origins of all of these companies in all of their manifestations, in the main, they are owned by the two biggest media companies. That is unhealthy for our democracy. The political wheel of fortune turns, and one day they will vote against the government—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 9.30 pm, the debate is interrupted.