Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

ROBERTS () (): The concept of diversity is enduring and goes to the heart of our democracy. Diversity inspires new thoughts and ideas, while discouraging stagnation and increasing the possibilities of finding better ways to address various issues. Diversity enhances creativity. It encourages the search for broad perspectives and information, leading to better decision-making and problem-solving. If we are exposed to diversity, we get to experience different views and how those views arise. In democracies, the media is fundamental to political life. It provides facts to allow us to be better informed about the issues that matter to us. It provides criticism and debate to ensure that information is tested and examined from all points of view.

Media outlets have gained an incredibly powerful influence over the past 50 years. With the rise of technology, individuals are now able to share their stories and opinions as they are unfolding. As we face a growing tide of unregulated hate speech, the role of the media is crucial in normalising diversity. As a society, we place a tremendous level of trust on media sources to feed us the information that we need in order to make informed and accurate decisions every day. Along with our immediate surroundings, media also shapes our self-image and societal norms. Body image, self-confidence and mental health all stem from what we see or we hear on a daily basis. Consequently, it's imperative for inclusivity to be encouraged in common media and marketing strategies. Diversity in the media is no longer only about minorities; it is well and truly a mainstream concern. Streaming company Netflix has elected an executive to oversee its diversity and inclusion strategy. British media companies, like the Financial Times, the Telegraph and Sky, are following suit.

It is important to continue to monitor the status of media concentration to identify areas, particularly suburban and regional areas, that risk losing local news sources. The support and encouragement of local and regional news outlets is imperative to provide educated, concentrated opinion pieces and news articles from the people who are directly affected by events at hand. In July, the Albanese government announced $15 million in funding for local and regional newspaper publishers to help absorb newsprint price hikes which threatened to wipe out local newspaper titles for good.

I know my local community love their local media. They love hearing the stories about children, families and seniors—the good-news stories, the uplifting stories, the things that people want to read to escape from a world sometimes full of hatred. I often reflect back and remember the Willesee brothers and George Negus and the stories that used to come to us through them. They were real, but they were fun and compelling. They had their stories because people trusted them as journalists. Individual people had influence on how that material and their stories were being portrayed.

Know that Labor has also called for concrete, workable proposals to support Australia's media on the table, noting that we still don't have a meaningful framework in place to measure diversity, localism and the availability of local news throughout Australia. To support struggling regional, local and community media providers facing immediate challenges, Labor also committed to deliver a $29 million local news and community broadcasting transition package. This includes a $15 million Regional and Local Newspaper Publishers Program to support eligible publishers to absorb rising print costs.

In conclusion, the government supports a free, diverse and sustainable media sector. We believe this is critical to the health of Australia's democracy. Together, diversity and depiction bring about inclusion—the commitment to diversity where everyone is acknowledged, empowered and celebrated. Inclusion understands that everyone, no matter their identity, is worthy of being seen instead of merely tolerated for our differences. We need to embrace the extensive diversity within every individual. I will leave you with the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi, who said, 'Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation.'

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