Senator MURRAY (6:46 PM) —by leave—I move Democrat amendment (1) on sheet 3000:

219 Public Broadcasters

220 Review of Regional Broadcasting

This amendment has two parts. The first part seeks to ensure that five ABC radio networks are transmitted to population centres with a population of over 10,000 and are funded accordingly. The government's offer to fund the expansion of NewsRadio broadcasts to regional Australia has prompted this amendment and these remarks. NewsRadio is behind Triple J and Classic FM. Triple J outrates NewsRadio nationally by about three to one and attracts around two-thirds of the ABC's listening audience in the under-40s market. Classic FM also outrates NewsRadio in every capital city, and that is why the ABC gave top priority for a network extension to Triple J for the 1.2 million Australians who currently cannot get it. At $3 million a year, this would be a tiny investment in Australia's younger people and it is doubly important with the closure of the ABC's Fly TV youth network.

It would be a poor outcome for media diversity if the government were able to swing its media package through the Senate on the promise of extending ABC NewsRadio and not the ABC's other two, and more popular, networks. So, while it is important to expand NewsRadio's coverage to the 3.4 million Australians who cannot receive it, media diversity, especially for young people, will not be met in regional Australia unless Triple J is also extended.

The second part of the amendment requires the Australian Broadcasting Authority to review regional broadcasting by 1 July 2005. The ABA has recently completed an inquiry into regional news delivery following the closure of several regional news services. Most regions now have just one regional news broadcast, with the network saying it is not economic for them all to offer it. The ABA largely acknowledged this but criticised the decline in local information since aggregation 15 years ago.

Progress reported.