Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Communications, Senator Watt. Following the result of the Victorian election and the disgraceful performance of sections of the Murdoch media, will the government now act on the issue of media diversity in Australia and, in particular, its importance for a robust democracy?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hanson-Young. Well, I do think that the Victorian election showed that there were a number of commentators on the state of Victorian politics who got it completely wrong. Some of them are sitting in every aisle opposite us. Some of them are sitting in certain media outlets in Victoria, which waged a four-year campaign against the Andrews government, promoting hysteria and promoting conspiracy theories with the people who are the noisiest now.

Opposition Senator:

An opposition senator interjecting—

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, we do live in a free country. Do you know what? Some people are free to get it wrong. And you have got it wrong, year after year after year, about the issues the Victorian people are concerned about.

Senator Hanson-Young, as you are aware, our government does have a position of supporting diverse media ownership. I'm sure that the minister responsible has discussed these matters with you. But I think that in general terms the Victorian state election again showed that some media outlets, along with some members of parliament, actually need to get out into the real world and listen to what real people have to say about these issues rather than just occupying their own echo chamber. We have seen some members of the Liberal and National parties, federally and Victorian, operate very closely with some of those media outlets. What they demonstrated is that they were grossly out of touch with people in Victoria, just as they demonstrated that in the recent federal election and in a range of other elections as well.

So I do hope that the Victorian state election is a very big wake-up call for a number of media outlets, as it should be also for members on the other side. Otherwise, they're going to keep drifting down the out-of-touch path that they seem to be intent on taking.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hanson-Young, your first supplementary question.

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Does the minister agree that sections of the Murdoch media were in fact in breach of their own Australian Press Council rules? The rules state that the media should:

Ensure that factual material in news reports and elsewhere is accurate and not misleading, and is distinguishable from other material such as opinion.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Hanson-Young. Of course we believe it is important for all media outlets to separate what is fact from opinion, and there is an important role for the media to make sure that, when they are reporting what are supposed to be facts, they demonstrate the facts and do put out the facts. When they want to have something to say in an opinion piece, then go for your life, but there shouldn't be a blurring of the two. Unfortunately, we have seen occasions where that distinction has been blurred. That's not in the interests of the media in Australia, and I don't think it's in the interests of good public commentary about debate.

It's not really for me, as a representing minister, to judge whether particular outlets may have breached media codes, but I would say, very strongly, to all media outlets, no matter who they are, that the public expects that media codes be followed and that factual information will be presented in a non-opinion form, leaving opinion pieces for their rightful place in our democracy, but not blurring them with fact. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hanson-Young, your second supplementary question.

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the Press Council clearly can't enforce its standards, given Australian media is more concentrated than any other comparable market and given the overt political role that some sections of the Murdoch media play, will the government hold an inquiry with the powers of a royal commission into to media diversity, including the Murdoch press, as recommended by some of your own senators, by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and by some of your own Labor branches?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hanson-Young. As I was saying in my original answer, the Albanese government does support a diverse and sustainable media sector, and we recognise that quality news and public interest journalism plays an important role in the functioning of Australian society and democracy. It is essential to informing local communities. Labor has long acknowledged and voiced concerns about the level of media concentration in Australia, which is why the Albanese Labor government is focused on supporting and fostering diversity in our media.

It's also why the government has affirmed a clear position that a royal commission or judicial inquiry into media concentration is not the way forward for media policy. There have already been multiple reviews and inquiries into the media and public interest journalism over the past decade, yet the recommendations from these processes have not been properly addressed. Rather than holding another inquiry, we need to be outcomes focused in implementing the backlog of recommendations that already exist.