Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill. I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2006 amends the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the BSA, and the Radiocommunications Act 1992, the Radcoms Act, to provide a framework to implement the model agreed with WIN and Prime for the conversion of their commercial television broadcasting services in regional and remote Western Australia from analog to digital.

The bill will facilitate, as part of the digital conversion model, the joint provision by WIN and Prime of a new, third digital commercial television service under section 38B of the BSA for people living outside Perth. For the first time, regional Western Australians will be able to enjoy a level of television services similar to those currently enjoyed by viewers in Perth.

The bill will extend the same arrangements to the commercial broadcasters in the other remote licence area, remote Central and Eastern Australia, should those broadcasters choose a similar digital television conversion model for their market.

The BSA currently does not specify detailed measures for the introduction of digital television services in remote areas. This was in recognition of the need to give consideration to the special circumstances of remote areas. The Australian Communications and Media Authority, ACMA,  is required to make a legislative instrument—a Commercial Television Conversion Scheme—to set out the terms of that conversion process.

In addition, section 38B of the BSA allows commercial broadcasters in licence areas with only two commercial licences to jointly—or one broadcaster individually—elect to provide a third, digital-only service. Under the current provisions, where they elect to do so jointly, they must provide each of the digital versions of their analog services, and the new joint service, on a separate television channel, and provide high definition television—HDTV—programs.

Items 1 to 8 of schedule 1 to the bill contain amendments to the BSA that define the circumstances where remote area licensees can elect to provide a section 38B service. Remote area licensees who have elected to provide jointly a section 38B service will be able to multichannel the three commercial digital services on a single radiofrequency channel, with exemption from HDTV quotas. Similarly, if the section 38B service is provided by only one of the two licensees, that licensee will be able to multichannel the digital version of their analog service and the section 38B service on a single digital channel.

This represents a significant saving for the licensees concerned. Instead of having to establish and maintain two or three sets of digital transmission infrastructure, with capacity for HDTV, they will be able to establish only one shared set of infrastructure, without the additional cost of investing in HDTV equipment.

This also represents significant cost savings in respect of the public purse because funding assistance to the broadcasters under the government’s Regional Equalisation Plan, REP, to help meet digital conversion costs is reduced, corresponding with the reduced digital conversion costs to broadcasters. Nevertheless, the government will provide substantial REP assistance to WIN and Prime of $19.36 million over eight years to support the implementation of their digital conversion model in regional and remote Western Australia.

Items 9 to 11 of schedule 1 to the bill contain corresponding amendments to the Radiocommunications Act relating to the transmitter licences that authorise the operation of WIN and Prime’s shared set of digital transmitters in regional and remote Western Australia. 

Passage of this legislation will enable ACMA to proceed to develop the Commercial Television Conversion Scheme for Western Australian regional and remote areas, allowing digital broadcasting to commence in these areas and the new services to be provided.

The digital television conversion model, which would be enabled by passage of the bill, represents a balance between public interest considerations and the special circumstances of remote area commercial television broadcasters. These broadcasters face significant cost pressures due to the wide geographic areas they service and the sparse population. Delivery of HDTV to all viewers in this market would be a very significant cost to broadcasters. Viewers will benefit from the new third digital service, delivering a substantially increased range of information and entertainment.

Nevertheless, the bill makes specific provision for remote commercial broadcasters to change their digital transmission arrangements in the future to provide HDTV services, if they choose to do so.

This bill represents a further demonstration of the government’s commitment to facilitate the availability of digital television broadcasting services throughout Australia. I congratulate the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, on her work. I thank the members of her department and I am delighted to commend this bill to the Committee.

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