Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Our future-building system is made up of government, media, business and non-profits, and we need to be able to trust these institutions so that they can move us towards the country we want to become. Trust in government and media is very low in Australia. Government and media are both seen as being unethical and incompetent in this year's Edelman Trust Barometer. We're working towards improving trust in government with the introduction of the National Anti-Corruption Commission bill this week, but how do we build trust in the media?

The success of our democracy depends on free and open exchange of ideas and information. This requires diverse media made up of well-resourced journalists empowered to investigate fearlessly and report truthfully on those in power. There's a tension between media as business and media as a democratic institution. As well as being companies selling their content to deliver returns for shareholders, our media need to maintain their role as custodians of the public interest. We rely on media to expose corruption, hold authorities to account and provide a platform for debate. The ability of media to perform this role declines as media concentration increases.

According to the Centre for Advancing Journalism, Australia now has only three national-scale commercial media voices, and it will come as no surprise as to who they are: News Corp, Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media. A landmark study in 2016 showed that Australia had the most concentrated newspaper industry out of any country studied with the exception of China and Egypt. Yes, we rank third behind China and Egypt. Since that report, our media has become even more concentrated, with News Corp now controlling about two-thirds of metro dailies.

In my home state of Western Australia, Seven West Media controls WA's only locally edited daily metro paper, the West Australian; the state's only other metro paper, the Sunday Times; and Community Newspaper Group, which owns 23 local newspapers across Perth. It also owns 18 regional mastheads, as well as the Seven television network, Prime TV and related channels and streaming products. Radio and television across the country are little better, with the largest player in both holding a 25 to 30 per cent market share. And, while online news is more diverse, it is yet to replace the local reporting done by regional and community newspapers. Even in online news, News Corp still dominates.

The tension between commercial freedom and public duty is difficult to balance and so requires some regulation. Currently the industry is self-regulated through the Australian Press Council and the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Self-regulation of an industry always has risks, and it's timely to review whether this approach is actually working.

While there have been multiple reviews into media concentration over the past three decades, the scope of the problems has expanded during this time. The internet plays a very different role now, and recommendations need to be considered through this changing landscape. Concerningly, many of the inquiry's strongest recommendations have been abandoned over time, under pressure from a few large media companies, confirming the urgent need for reform. I note the government's response in this debate that the government is focusing on implementing a backlog of recommendations. I look forward to seeing these changes actually being made, and I hope that these include recommendations such as limits on cross-media and foreign ownership laws, including a minimum number of owners test; a restructured replacement of the Press Council; and an expansion of ACMA's few powers.

In the absence of an updated review, my concern is that recommendations of previous reviews are cherrypicked to suit the interests of the current government, with minimal offence to the large media companies. It's not in the interests of politicians to poke the bear. They have too much to lose. Taking any real action on the dire state of our media concentration will require community support and engagement. The most recent review completed recommended the establishment of a judicial inquiry with the powers of a royal commission to settle the heavily politicised policy discussion at arm's length from political and media interference. I back this call for a judicial inquiry in the interests of protecting the integrity of the institutions that our fragile democracy relies on.

I implore the government to continue its work on rebuilding trust and improving integrity of our institutions by considering this call for a judicial inquiry, for an updated perspective on how best to address this vital issue in 2022. In the absence of a further inquiry, my community will be watching carefully to see how much courage this government will muster in the face of powerful media voices.

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