Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to commend and applaud the Turnbull government on the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017. Before I get into the reasons why I particularly support this bill, I would like to commend the speakers who have just preceded me, in particular Senator Hinch. There is no-one in this chamber, and very few people in this nation, who have more experience in more platforms of the Australian media landscape than the human headline, our wonderful Senator Derryn Hinch. I think he made a very compelling case as to why this legislation is so necessary. He said himself, just now in this chamber, that he's never known the Australian media to be under such threat. In his own inimitable way he also said that you have to have rocks in your head to actually oppose these reforms. He very clearly, and I think very cogently, destroyed the ALP's claim that these changes will restrict diversity. As he said, it is patently wrong. In fact, Senator Hinch also argued, again very cogently, that not supporting these changes in this bill will actually further restrict the media. Those who believe otherwise, he said, are in Noddy Land. I could not agree more with what Senator Hinch just said.

I'd also like to congratulate Senator Griff on his comments just now in the chamber. Again, Senator Griff put a very cogent, clear argument as to why media reform is necessary, and I would like to thank him for his very considered words. He pointed out very clearly the unfairness that has now arisen in relation to legislation that was drafted in 1993 in a very analog world. Today it is distorting the market to such a degree that those who operate in the digital world have a great advantage over the traditional media, which is so important, as Senator Fawcett said, in regional Australia. As Senator Fawcett also said—and I congratulate him for making these points in relation to confirmation bias—all Australians need to have as much diversity as possible in the information that they see and hear through all the various platforms of communication, rather than just the one point of view, to avoid the echo chamber that Senator Fawcett mentioned.

I believe that, in our Australian society, media outlets continue to play a crucial role in reflecting and representing our culture and providing information to our local communities, and they are, ultimately, critically important to our democratic processes. As the former chair of the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee I heard very compelling evidence in the inquiry on this legislation. That inquiry left me in absolutely no doubt that broadcasters and publishers are operating in an increasingly challenging environment, with intense competition for audiences and advertising revenue and also from other media companies, including the ABC, which, I believe, has a distorting impact on the ability of commercial broadcast media to make a profit and be competitive in this current environment.

To pick up Senator Hinch's words, I think anybody in this place that does not see Network Ten's announcement of voluntary administration in June this year as a concern is in Noddy Land. It is indicative of the current instability and the obstacles that are hindering the performance of our traditional broadcasters. They are hamstrung by analog-era legislation which digital media are clearly not subject to. This bill provides the necessary and appropriate reforms to ensure that our media outlets are equipped and the regulatory framework in which they operate is appropriate for today and also for tomorrow's media environment. There are many new challenges, and it is outrageous that we are hamstringing these organisations to the point where some are going into voluntary administration or, as Senator Hinch said, have simply closed their doors, reducing diversity. This bill provides the necessary and appropriate reforms to ensure that our media outlets are equipped with the regulatory framework that they need to survive in a digital world, and not only survive but, hopefully, prosper.

Similarly to the Electoral and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, which I spoke to yesterday in this chamber, the bill before us, in many of its amendments, seeks to modernise aspects of an act which is severely out of date and is now having many contrary impacts on our democracy. In terms of the Electoral Act, it was in relation to the types of communications we receive on electoral matters, in campaigns. In this case, if we don't change, if we don't update our laws so that all of our media outlets, no matter what and how they broadcast, are able to do so, our democracy will be the poorer, because people simply will not be getting the information they need to make informed choices and to be getting alternative points of view, as Senator Fawcett so eloquently pointed out in his speech on this issue.

I commend the minister on his stakeholder and industry engagement and on gaining unanimous support from all sectors of the media industry, many of which consider this media reform package and this bill as vital to their longevity and their viability. Again, if the Channel 10 insolvency doesn't sound alarm bells for those opposite, I don't know what will. Let me share with the chamber some of the comments by industry. First of all, Network Ten CEO Paul Anderson stated:

… it is blindingly obvious that these pre-internet era laws are now achieving the opposite of what they were intended to do.

In 1993. He went on:

They are now working against a strong, viable and diverse media sector, and they must go.

News Corp Australian Executive Chairman Michael Miller—