Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've got to thank the member for Paterson, because I do love an audience! So thank you, colleagues, and thank you to the member for Paterson for drawing attention to the state of the House. To those of you who are leaving, just quickly: the member for Bendigo was just bemoaning how her campaign was so poorly funded, but I do wonder whether United Voice would have been there pushing pretty hard for an ex-organiser. In any event, we're not here to talk about that; we're here to talk about regional media and its importance.

In rising to speak on the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Regional Commercial Radio and Other Measures) Bill 2020, I want to start at that point—namely, acknowledging the essential service that regional radio, television and media outlets provide to regional communities and, ipso facto, the nation. My constituents in Barker, and indeed people in all of regional Australia, depend on these services, not only to provide relevant news but also to provide a sense of community that you just don't get from metropolitan papers.

This amendment legislation serves to strengthen regional media to ensure that that industry will be viable years into the future. It does so with the stated aim of seeking to avoid losses to local content and media services more generally. To achieve this, of course, burdensome red tape that fails to substantiate any real increases in quality or services is proposed to be removed. This is just another benefit from reducing regulations, giving business the means they need to succeed. Governments should never work in opposition to the reality out there in the community. The reality for regional media—let's be plain—in a COVID-19 recession is tough and will be tough. It's been a strong industry, and we're providing strong support for change within commercial radio, which has been flagging since 2016. Similarly, in 2017 Free TV Australia advocated for exemptions in regional and remote licence quota obligations.

From 15 April our government introduced a range of measures. They included tax relief, a $50 million investment in regional journalism and red-tape relief, and we also decided to bring forward $5 million from the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund. The relief this amendment legislation provides serves to complement those supports already given by our government to support this vital industry. These amendments exemplify our government's attempt to stimulate the economy through sensible, impact-free deregulation.

Regulation damages small and medium enterprises disproportionately due to constraints on resources. A survey recently found that 48 per cent of Australian businesses spent more than $10,000 per year on compliance. For large corporations, this may be an acceptable cost—indeed, it might be just a drop in the ocean—but, for small regional media outlets, this regulation must be rolled back in a way that doesn't compromise service or quality, as this bill guarantees. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, now is not the time to bog industry down with the dead hand of government regulation.

The proposed amendment to schedule 1 of the bill allows broadcasters to split their five-week exemptions over two periods. Businesses, especially ones that provide vital services, need autonomy to make the best decisions for themselves and their consumers. Currently, the default exemption period is over Christmas. But, as all of you know in this place, there's more than one time of the year that has religious or cultural significance to Australians. Many media outlets want the ability to split the five-week break over Easter as well, offering a reprieve from public holidays that makes labour difficult and, indeed, expensive to acquire.

This industry is clearly doing it tough, with regulatory inflexibility not creating beneficial outcomes for audiences or enterprises. By allowing media outlets to decide when and how they distribute their five-week exemption period, it will enable them to utilise their break most effectively based on their region's greatest needs.

Regional communities vary as much as the Labor Party policies on this front. That is why deregulation outlined in schedule 1 will allow for more decentralised decision-making. Media outlets, instead of following imposed national standards, will be able to react to their local needs and demands. Decentralisation is necessary to improve the quality of regional media now and into the future.

Within my own electorate, Mount Gambier Community Radio Station, with the call sign 5GTR FM, serves our community in ways metropolitan radio could never. The idea of the radio station came from a few passionate locals in the early 1980s. Within a couple of years, they were broadcasting their voices to the community. In fact, my late brother was a presenter on this station. I recall being introduced to Paul Kelly, Billy Bragg and others by visiting the station with him and listening to his rather eclectic music tastes. It's true—he had good taste, and he was a good bloke. During this time, it was the only community radio station outside of metropolitan Adelaide.

To the north of my electorate, we have Riverland Life FM, which is another community radio station. They describe their origin as nothing short of a miracle, as they often struggled through funding application processes and dealing with the lack of technical expertise. Despite all of these challenges, they succeeded and now operate not only to present local news but to share their faith with their community.

Radio stations such as 5GTR FM and Riverland Life FM need regulatory relief. This amendment will provide that to them so that we can continue to hear regional voices. Regional news is considered a low priority for metropolitan broadcasters. We can understand that. We get it. We understand the economies of scale. Unlike cities, which may be more homogenous, the variations in our regions we so often celebrate lead to metropolitan broadcasters avoiding generalisations in covering such diverse areas. This is not meant to be an attack on metropolitan broadcasters but, instead, is intended to highlight the value that regional broadcasters provide.

Unfortunately, as a result of changing advertising priorities, regional broadcasters have been unable to sell their available advertisement slots. The television broadcaster industry group ThinkTV released data from December 2018 to December 2019—a period long before we were introduced to the economic impact of COVID. It reported a 4.9 per cent decrease compared to the previous 12 months. Speaking to my local media outlets, I can tell you that revenue has simply fallen off the cliff. These advertisement losses are often as a result of competition from the internet, and, of course, that's a forum or a mode that's not subject to the same regulations or licensing requirements. For media outlets, this makes broadcasting a full suite of multichannels not commercially viable.

Under this bill, our government aims to better reflect the market by providing regional broadcasters certainty in situations where, due to their affiliation agreements, they fail to meet their local content requirements, through no fault of their own. For regional communities, when their local media outlet closes, there are rarely close competitors willing to fill their shoes. I've obviously experienced that in my community, with WIN Television. The stories, issues and community achievements that would've been reported effectively go unacknowledged.

In 2017, 12 broadcasters breached their local content obligations. Two of these broadcasters serviced my electorate of Barker and were located in the Riverland and Mount Gambier. The services they provide for the regions allow local stories and journalists to be heard when they may otherwise be passed by. These 12 broadcasters in breach represent 19 per cent of all regional broadcasters in the country. A licensing requirement that has just less than 20 per cent noncompliance is one that doesn't reflect the industry ACMA regulates.

Thankfully, ACMA exercised restraint, offering relief this time around. Noncompliance with multichannel quota obligations can attract harsh penalties, including suspension and cancellation of licences. This is despite the 12 licensees significantly exceeding their local content requirement on their primary channel, with their breaches occurring in the other channels they are required to maintain. There is no doubt in my mind that these significant penalties would impact not only broadcasters but also constituents in my electorate if the harsh penalties were brought into effect.

These changes will support broadcasters in my electorate, providing them with certainty in meeting their multichannel obligations in situations where they are dependent on metropolitan broadcasters whose decisions are far beyond their control. The current legislation leaves regional broadcasters at the mercy of their metropolitan affiliates and vulnerable to program scheduling changes. I believe all of us in this place agree that we cannot allow smaller enterprises to suffer such harsh penalties, particularly for events that are out of their control.

The advertising market has been further affected, obviously, by COVID-19, and, with the major sporting events not being aired, revenue is likely to decrease further. Market forecasting predicts regional advertising revenue to decline by a further 11 per cent. The content regulator, ACMA, is exercising forbearance in 2020—I'm grateful for that—and, potentially, they say, in 2021. But the revenue losses for regional broadcasters will likely impact their ability to meet their quotas on a range of channels for some time into the future.

Another change this amendment implements is moving from a mandatory local content plan to one that licensees provide upon request. This allows regional media outlets who consistently meet their obligations to save time and money on the preparation of these content plans. Local content plans are a significant administrative and compliance burden on the media industry, and improvement in local content for communities rarely eventuates. These minor but practical changes will enable broadcasters to spend their time and energy not on meeting regulatory requirements but instead on producing the high-quality local content that our regions depend on and my constituents demand.

Additionally, instead of requiring 12½ minutes of local content per day, the amendments allow for an average of 62.5 minutes per week, a much more sensible approach. Effectively, broadcasters can choose how they allocate this time over the week. In reality this will likely only be utilised in weeks with public holidays, offering a reprieve from staffing and costing issues by distributing the local content throughout the week. This also allows broadcasters to present local content on weekends, if they choose to, depending on their individual circumstances and resources and the demands of their listenership.

It may be argued that Australian media will be diluted and that local content might not be as prevalent, but the simple fact is that Australian content consistently rates well and has the highest content ratings on commercial television. The economic pull factors are there. Media outlets would be absurd to go against market forces, particularly in regional communities that switch off if the media they're consuming isn't relevant. Producing local content is not only supporting the Australian economy; it has also been seen as a profitable course of action for media companies.

These minor changes build on a program we've implemented to deal with the economic effects of the COVID-19 recession. They will enable broadcasters to spend more time on meeting the needs of their listeners than on their obligations to the regulators. I commend the bill to the House.

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