Mr Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, upon notice, on 5 November 2003:

(1) Has he seen the report by Tim Rutten titled “Producer tells of the politics of Fox” in the Sydney Morning Herald on 3 November 2003 in which Mr Charlie Reina alleged that “Editorially, the Fox News Channel newsroom is under the constant control and vigilance of management”.

(2) Is he able to say how interference in the editorial independence of an Australian newsroom by a media owner could be in the public interest or good for Australia's democracy; if not, why not.

(3) Can he explain whether the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill 2002 would allow further concentration of media ownership in Australia; if not, why not.

(4) Will he now abandon this Bill; if not why not.

Mr Williams (Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) Yes.

(2) Reference is made to part (2) of the answer given to the honourable member's question on notice No. 2278 (Hansard 3 December 2003, page 23305).

(3) The Bill allows Australian companies to be competitive on an international stage by realising the benefits of scale and scope that cross-media mergers can provide. Well resourced media companies that do not have to rely solely on cost cutting for improving profitability are more likely to deliver the program diversity and high quality news and information services the public desire. The Bill also increases the competitiveness of small to medium-sized firms and new entrants, by allowing them to attain the necessary economies of scale and scope to compete effectively against the larger incumbents.

At the same time, amendments previously made to the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill 2002 provide strong safeguards to protect diversity of news and media opinion, and prevent market dominance by any media group. These include:

an amendment stipulating that a cross-media merger cannot be approved unless five independently owned commercial media outlets (across radio, associated newspapers and television) in metropolitan markets, and four in regional markets, remain in the market after the cross-media acquisition occurs;

an extension of the `two out of three rule' to metropolitan markets;

a restriction on newspaper ownership to one newspaper per market where the person also holds a cross-media exemption certificate for that market (relevant newspapers are those included on the ABA's Associated Newspaper Register); and

a requirement to review the ownership and control provisions in three years time.

(4) No. The Government made an election commitment to reform Australia's media ownership laws. Without reform, the current media ownership laws will restrict the Australian media sector to an outdated structure with little or no capacity for new players, improved competition, or the ability to respond to a rapidly evolving and converging international media environment.