(1)   Further to the answer to question No. 650 (Hansard, 25 May 2005, page 113), did the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) find that Sydney Christian Broadcasters (SCB) had identified a significant demand for an additional community service.

(2)   Did the ABA determine that SCB has the capacity to provide a community broadcasting service on 1386 AM; if not, what reasons did the ABA have for finding otherwise.

(3)   When the ABA called for further public comment on the future of the service on 1386 AM, how many (a) letters from the public and (b) other submissions did it receive (i) in favour and (ii) opposed to the proposed service to be operated by SCB.

(4)   Were the submissions on the future of the service on 1386 AM open for public comment.

(5)   Did the ABA review the submission made by SCB contesting the ABA’s findings in deciding not to grant SCB the licence, in particular, SCB’s claim that it would reasonably expect a potential audience of between 237,000 and 755,000 people; if so, will the Minister provide a copy of the ABA’s findings; if no review was undertaken, will the Minister explain why not.

(6)   Did the ABA consider the surveys and research undertaken by Rhema Sydney in its submissions; if so, did the ABA accept the veracity of the information submitted; if the ABA did not consider the information and research submitted, will the Minister explain why not.

(7)   Did the ABA find the research data submitted by SCB to prove its case for the demand for an additional Christian community broadcasting service to be reliable.

(8)   Is the 1386 AM frequency (a) still designated and (b) available for community use.

(9)   Did the ABA General Manager in a public address to the Association of Christian Broadcasters in Manly in June 2004 (a) admit that the ABA had received several submissions in favour of the Rhema Sydney proposal in response to the ABA’s invitation and call for further public comment as to the future use of the 1386 AM frequency in Sydney and that it had also received some 284 letters of support, and (b) indicate that the ABA would be delivering its findings and responses by the end of July 2004.

(10)   Has the ABA received a commercial-in-confidence submission on the 1386 AM frequency from Commercial Radio Australia (CRA); if so, will the ABA make a decision based on this submission.

(11)   Can the Minister confirm that the decision of the future use of the 1386 AM frequency is a merit-based process and that the call for further public submissions is part of an open and transparent process; if so, can the Minister explain how the public interest is being served when this does not appear to be the case.

(1)   In Sydney Christian Broadcaster’s (SCB) submission to the ABA’s discussion paper on options for the future use of 1386 kHz, it states that there is significant demand for an additional community broadcasting service in Sydney. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will take SCB’s submission into consideration at the time that it makes a decision in relation to the future use of 1386 kHz in Sydney. Furthermore, the ABA released a discussion paper on 19 May 2005 seeking submissions on whether to put in place restrictions on planning or allocating new radio services on the AM band so as to not further reduce the already limited capacity to introduce digital radio services. SCB was advised of this discussion paper and invited to make a written submission.

(2)   The ABA found that SCB had not demonstrated that there was a sufficient need for another community broadcasting service in Sydney for the Christian community, whose needs were being met to some extent by an existing fulltime Christian community broadcasting service, along with another 82 hours per week of Christian programming on other radio services across the Sydney licence area.

(3)   The ABA did not seek public submissions relating to the service proposed by SCB. Rather, it sought public submissions in relation to the ABA’s discussion paper on options for the future use of 1386 kHz for Sydney. Consequently, submissions received in relation to this discussion paper were focussed on the options for its future use. SCB encouraged people to write to the ABA supporting its proposed service using the 1386 frequency. To date, ACMA has received 332 letters and 3 petitions in response to this campaign. It did not receive any submissions explicitly opposed to SCB’s service, however, the ABA did not seek submissions relating to specific proposed services.

(4)   Public submissions provided in relation to the ABA’s discussion paper on options for the future use of 1386 kHz for Sydney were made available for public perusal on the ABA’s website. The ABA did not seek public comment on these submissions. Two submitters requested that their submissions not be made available on the basis that they contained information that they considered was commercial-in-confidence. The ABA granted their request.

(5)   ACMA understands that Mr Murphy is referring to SCB’s application for a community broadcasting licence using 1386 kHz, which was submitted to the ABA in 2002. The ABA did not make a specific finding in relation to these figures. Rather, the ABA found that SCB had not demonstrated that there was a sufficient need for another community broadcasting service in Sydney for the Christian community, whose needs were being met to some extent by an existing fulltime Christian community broadcasting service, along with another 82 hours per week of Christian programming on other radio services across the Sydney licence area.

(6)   The ABA considered all of the information provided by SCB in its submissions. However, as stated in response to part (5), the ABA considered that the needs of the Christian community in Sydney were being met to some extent by the existing fulltime Christian community broadcasting service, along with another 82 hours per week of Christian programming available on other radio services across the Sydney licence area.

(7)   The ABA did not test the reliability of the research data submitted by SCB. The decision made by the ABA to not allocate the licence to SCB was based upon the amount of Christian programming currently available on existing services in the Sydney licence area. Please refer to part (5).

(8)  

(a)   A variation to the Sydney licence area plan was determined by the ABA in March 2002 to make available an additional community broadcasting service using the 1386 kHz frequency. No further change has been made since that decision.

(b)   Due to concerns regarding the proximity of the Homebush Bay transmitter site to new residential areas, the ABA decided that the 1386 kHz frequency would not be used for any purpose until it had completed a review of options for its future use. It announced that decision in a news release issued on 26 March 2003.

(9)  

(a)   The ABA’s General Manager, Mr Giles Tanner, gave a speech to the Association of Christian Broadcasters on 2 July 2004. He has not retained a copy of his speaking notes, however, his background briefing for that meeting included the information that the ABA had received 280 letters and 3 petitions of support for Rhema Sydney in relation to the ABA’s review of options for the future use of 1386 kHz in Sydney.

(b)   At that time, it had been the ABA’s intention to further consider the issue of 1386 kHz at its forthcoming Planning and Licensing Committee meeting to be held on 29 July 2004. Mr Tanner believes it was likely that he shared that information with attendees.

(10)   Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) requested that their submission on options for the future use of 1386 kHz remain commercial in confidence. After considering CRA’s reasons, the ABA granted their request. ACMA will consider all submissions received at the time that it makes a decision on the future use of the 1386 kHz frequency.

(11)   A decision on the future use of 1386 kHz will be made to ensure the best possible use of 1386 kHz, with consideration to the planning criteria at section 23 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. ACMA will consider the comments of all submitters when making its decision. The process has been open and transparent to date, with the release of a discussion paper, an advertisement placed in The Sydney Morning Herald on 10 May 2004 advising of the discussion paper and seeking public submissions, the publishing on the ABA website of the discussion paper and the publishing of non-confidential submissions that it received in response to the discussion paper.