Jackie Kelly (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the mover of the original motion, I seek leave to speak without closing the debate.

Leave granted.

I thank the member for Werriwa for his support in the preparation of the Standing Committee on Communications, Information Technology and the Arts report Community television: options for digital broadcasting and for his keen interest and contributions throughout the taking of evidence. I note that the member for Parramatta is speaking after me. Similarly, she has been a great contributor to and attendee of the meetings that we have had to take evidence and to prepare the draft of this report.

The terms of reference given to the Standing Committee on Communications, Information Technology and the Arts by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts were to investigate and report on:

The scope and role of Australian community broadcasting across radio, television, the internet and other broadcasting technologies;

Content and programming requirements that reflect the character of Australia and its cultural diversity;

Technological opportunities, including digital, to expand community broadcasting networks; and

Opportunities and threats to achieving a diverse and robust network of community broadcasters.

In those terms of reference the minister recognised that it was in Australia’s interests to have a diverse and robust network of community broadcasters. In the last 12 months of taking evidence it became clear that community television really needed spectrum to jump to in the transition to digital and this has not been clarified. Over the course of our inquiry it became apparent that various avenues were being lost to them as the ABC and SBS started multichannelling and fully utilised the available spectrum. The commercial sectors obviously had theirs full with simulcast, and the pay TV channels were full and expensive; they were very expensive for community players to access. The community channel on pay TV was different from community TV as we know it on the free to air.

When the government announced that channel A was to be sold by the end of 2007, the committee decided that it would be helpful to the minister if we delivered our findings on the community television sector early in 2007 for consideration in the sale process. Hence this report is being presented now. We have reserved a subsequent report which will cover community television governance, sponsorship, fundraising activities and all the other things that impact on this very important sector. We will deliver that report later in the year. We will also deal with radio and the other matters contained in the terms of reference. It was felt important that we get this report out early so that the minister could take notice of our deliberations in organising the transition of community television to the digital age.

The industry was launched in the late 1980s, when there were just test broadcasts, and then there was the launch of Channel 31 in Melbourne about nine years ago. It was set up from a university base and seemed to have the right governance structure in place that allowed the station to really launch. It has seen a number of innovative programs. At our inspection of Channel 31 in Melbourne, a most interesting point for me was that one of its most popular programs was a program for the over 65s. It is something you would not find a commercial network running for an hour on commercial TV, but it is something that is very important to our elderly population, who are increasingly isolated in their homes. People on a pension can find their financial wherewithal leaves them feeling isolated when they leave work. They cannot afford gym fees and they cannot afford to take part in many of the social activities that they did to stay fit. For retirees who live in unit dwellings and city areas, being able to undertake moderate exercise in their own home for an hour a day in front of the TV is something that they would much appreciate. This type of innovative, experimental program—putting something to air and saying, ‘Look what is out there,’ and watching it grow—is something that happens in the community sector. It is something that used to happen with SBS and ABC, but more and more we find the ABC is not interested in being the nursery for industry talent for the commercials. The ABC has a different operational approach. More and more we are seeing the commercial sector and the ABC and SBS raiding the community television sector for ready-trained talent, be it behind camera, within production or in front of camera.

This report, as I mentioned earlier, comes at a critical time when the decisions are being made about spectrum allocation. You see the commercial broadcasters really expanding their services and exploring all the possibilities of digital transmission. I think it is important that we allow community television the same opportunities—hence the recommendation to allow a full channel to the sector. That does not mean the current incumbents get the full channel, but it does enable a case to be made. If they say they want to put out an electronic program guide or if other players want to come into the market with different services and innovation, they should not be precluded in any future division of spectrum, so that, in future, community television will have the same proportion of spectrum use as the commercials.

I think government should be looking at the return of spectrum from the commercial players, and from the ABC and SBS, before it looks at the return of spectrum from the community sector. That was one of the key drivers behind why the committee felt it was important at this time to recommend that the full seven-megahertz channel be reserved for community use—not just for incumbents’ use but for community use.

We have seen a number of innovations in community broadcasts—not just on the internet with YouTube but all sorts of innovations. In fact, recently I have even seen politicians advertising themselves on YouTube; for instance, I have seen that Peter Debnam, the opposition leader in New South Wales, is reaching out on YouTube—a bit like the Blue Wiggle! But when you get politicians moving to community broadcasts to send a message across, clearly those broadcasts have a listenership and an audience and their needs are worthy of a government response.

Likewise, I think you will see this type of growth in community TV. It is absolutely a given—they call it ‘Gates’ law’—that the cost of this technology will be halved while the capability is doubled every six months. So the time is not far away when we will be able to produce television shows in our living rooms, and the opportunities for uploading them—

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