Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital Television) Bill 2012. The bill amends the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 to include the regulatory framework for digital television services. Importantly, it will facilitate earlier access to services licensed under section 38C, known as viewer access satellite television, or VAST, for viewers in areas which will not be able to receive adequate digital reception after digital switchover and gives the minister greater flexibility in varying the dates in switchover determinations.

These amendments will benefit television viewers in regional and metropolitan areas who do not receive adequate commercial digital television terrestrial reception. Currently, viewers in Australia who do not receive adequate commercial digital television terrestrial reception are not eligible to access the VAST service until six months before switchover in their licensed area. The proposed amendments to the conditional access scheme will establish a means for those viewers whom the commercial broadcasters do not intend to serve terrestrially to obtain early access to the VAST service.

On 2 November 2009 the minister made the Broadcasting Services (Simulcast Period For Metropolitan Licence Areas) Determination (No. 1) 2009, which determines when the switchover would occur. Switchover for Brisbane TV1 and Perth TV1 licence areas will occur on 30 June 2013. Switchover for Adelaide TV1, Melbourne TV1 and Sydney TV1 licence areas will occur on 31 December 2013. Following further consultation with broadcasters it is apparent that the switchover dates in all of the metropolitan licence areas are likely to require change. These variations in the switchover dates are to facilitate a staggered approach to the transition to digital television in metropolitan areas to ensure both government assistance schemes and broadcaster engineering resources are available and appropriately managed to achieve digital switchover by the end of 2013. In some cases the amended dates could fall outside the legislated six-month variation window where a determination can be varied up to three months earlier or three months later than the determined date. This means that setting the dates in some metropolitan areas could not be made by a simple variation to the Broadcasting Services (Simulcast Period For Metropolitan Licence Areas) Determination (No. 1) 2009.

The amendments allow the minister to vary the date of the switchover determination to a new date that the minister specifies, provided that the date determined is before 31 December 2013. Current restrictions do not provide the minister with sufficient flexibility to do this. Current restrictions do not provide the minister with sufficient flexibility to do this. Similarly, legislative provisions governing the making of digital-only local market areas determinations to allow the minister to vary the timing when a local market area becomes a digital-only market area are also being amended.

Failure to pass the bill during the winter 2012 sittings will delay earlier access to VAST services for some viewers in digital television blackspots in the major population centres of Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Failure to pass the bill during the winter 2012 sittings will also prevent the minister from varying the switchover dates in metropolitan areas to ensure that switch-over occurs progressively throughout the year and that the switchover dates are varied in time to provide certainty to both viewers and the broadcasting industry.

This is an important consideration for people who live in my electorate of Makin. One of the proposed variations in the switchover dates requested by the broadcasting industry was to determine the switchover date for Adelaide in the first half of 2013. This would be welcomed by people living in Makin and other residents in South Australia.

This is a matter that is of real importance and would be very much welcomed by the people of the electorate which I represent—the people of Makin. My electorate is located along the Para Escarpment, which is predominantly what would be referred to as a 'hills face zone'. For decades, people living in that region have not received good television reception. That is because the TV towers of the main channels are located on the top of Mount Lofty above the area of my electorate. Many homes do not receive the signals because they are not in direct line of sight from where the signals are sent. Homes in some of the valleys, or which are obstructed by some of the local hills from the direct line signals, receive very, very poor service. This has been a longstanding problem.

Of course, in recent years the installation of cable TV, such as Foxtel, has helped out. But unfortunately not all people can afford pay TV. Even with some retransmission facilities that have been constructed over the years, the service to some parts of the electorate is still very poor. And it has been made even worse by interference caused by the roofs of some very large buildings that have been constructed in the area in recent years. Services whereby the TV screen becomes snowy or fuzzy, or in some cases where there is no service at all, or where you have what is referred to as 'ghosting' are commonly brought to my attention. I can recall having a long discussion with Mr Ian Hunt, a local resident of Salisbury East, who spent some time looking into this matter and the causes of the poor reception to people in the region. We had a discussion about what those causes were and what some of the solutions might be. It was interesting to speak to him because he certainly has done some really good work in respect of analysing what the problems were.

This legislation is therefore most welcome because for so many people in my electorate it will mean that finally they might be able to get some good television reception. In respect of that I have heard stories of people who have spent considerable amounts of money replacing their television set, constructing different types of aerials—sometimes at considerable cost—putting in new set-top boxes and the like, and yet they have still failed to get a good reception.

The importance of this legislation is simply this: firstly, digital TV should provide better reception to all. My understanding is that the digital signal is much more effective. Secondly, the digital switchover in Adelaide may be brought forward to the first half of 2013, and that is also good news. Thirdly, it now means for those people who have been waiting so long to get good television reception that they will be able to do so as a result of the flexibility that this legislation provides to the minister to enable people to access the satellite VAST service much sooner than they otherwise would have been able to do. It is the access to the satellite service that I believe is absolutely important with respect to this particular legislation.

I represent an electorate where there are a considerable number of aged people. For aged people today, access to their television set and having a good picture is very, very important, particularly if they are aged people confined to their home or who have other mobility problems. Television today is not simply a luxury anymore, as it might have been in years gone by. It is an important facet of life because people get so much information through the television set. It provides entertainment to those who cannot leave their home and, to many people who are living alone, it also provides a sense of company. For those reasons it is important for them to have good television service. Some of the people who have, over the years, raised with me their concerns about the poor service they are receiving are, in fact, elderly people.

This is good legislation because, for all of those people who have been waiting decades to get good television service, it looks as if they will be able to do so much sooner than they otherwise might have been able to. For those reasons I commend the legislation to the House.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital Television) Bill 2012 because it has an effect on many in my electorate, which is an outer urban electorate. This bill effects changes needed to improve the processes around the switch to digital-only TV. In particular it makes VAST, Viewer Access Satellite Television, services available earlier for viewers who will never receive a reliable terrestrial signal.

By the end of 2013, all analogue TV broadcast will cease and all free-to-air television will be broadcast in digital format only. Some areas on the eastern seaboard have already made the switch, but in Western Australia we will see this occur sometime after June 2013. The coalition supports the bill and the switch to digital television but wants to ensure the rollout is effective, that digital coverage is adequate and that the rollout times are achieved.

Canning electorate is 6,500 square kilometres. Much of it is rural and has a topography which sometimes affects television signals. This legislation is very relevant to some of the outlying towns in the electorate. Two of those towns are Boddington and Waroona. Boddington is the home of the Newmont Gold Mine, which is going to be the largest gold mine in Australia, producing some 850,000 ounces of gold a year. There are a number of people moving to Boddington and Waroona, and their populations are due to increase as a result of that large mine. Boddington, as I said, is listed to possibly receive the Satellite Subsidy Scheme, the SSS. The scheme will provide a subsidy for eligible households to switch to digital TV via the Viewer Access Satellite Television; however, we need to see that this Labor government is not leaving people in rural and regional areas at a disadvantage with regard to the switchover.

The western VAST service, in other words the service for Western Australia, started in August 2011 to provide digital free-to-air channels to those who require a satellite service for digital TV. One of my constituents, Mr Peter Shoudra of Boddington, told me he thought it was unfair that country people need to get the VAST service to access digital TV and then have to pay for the connection of the technology while their city counterparts do not.

Although I expect the Satellite Subsidy Scheme will be applicable to Mr Shoudra in Boddington—and this is yet to be confirmed, unfortunately—he will still have to contribute something like $200 to $350 towards getting this service. As I said, this seems unfair for somebody living in the bush when their city counterparts do not have to. This is a big cost for families struggling with the rising costs of living and even more so for pensioners.

Furthermore, although the VAST service started in Western Australia in August last year, people in the Boddington area, according to the Digital Ready website, are not yet able to apply for subsidies under the Satellite Subsidy Scheme, with the application open and close dates yet to be determined. So how can Western Australians apply for them if they do not even know when they are available to be applied for?

Western Australia has the most towns of any state listed as eligible to receive a subsidy under the Satellite Subsidy Scheme, but it is the last state where you will have the opportunity to get it. There is something funny about that—it is a long way from Canberra, so out of sight, out of mind. Once again, as I said, the further away we are from Canberra, the more insignificant we are to the Canberra based bureaucrats—and I see them sitting over there.

One of the specific provisions in the bill should make this situation better—that is, 'to facilitate early access to the VAST service for viewers who will never be able to receive an adequate terrestrial television signal.' Currently, some viewers need to wait six months for the analog signal to be switched off in their area before they can access VAST. In other words, they have to wait six months before they can apply.

Clarifying arrangements for determining whether a resident is eligible for the VAST service is also a key component of this bill. For example, areas that have a self-help transmission tower are being asked to give the government sufficient notice of any decision to switch off the tower or convert it to digital.

These towers are sometimes owned and maintained by the local government authority—in this case, the Boddington ShireCouncil—so you can imagine the cost of converting them to digital. It is a cost that a small council the size of Boddington just cannot afford.

For that reason you can imagine that most local government authorities with these towers will just turn them off. Yet the federal government is sitting back, saying: 'You tell us what you are doing'—which is just an easy way to put the blame back on the council when the rollout is late. The onus should not be on the council; it should be on the government which is switching off this service to liaise properly with them so that they can coordinate the switch-off and the rollout of the digital signal.

The government's rollout of digital TV must be closely monitored. I wish to provide this feedback from Canning constituents who are having some issues with the digital service. For example, Colin Lankford, from Kelmscott, recently switched to digital TV. Since then he has only been able to access two channels, despite being able to access all other channels when he had analog TV. He has had aerial technicians come to his house to check the issue, but they have said that the location of the house means that there is very poor reception throughout the region, which has also been confirmed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. He inquired about getting the VAST service and accessing the Satellite Subsidy Scheme, but he is not eligible as he is living in a metropolitan area. He is still in my electorate and, dare I say, on the south-east corner of the metropolitan area and only a kilometre or so from the bush. That is how close he is to being out of the metropolitan area. He has no other options available to him.

Pam Herbert, also from Kelmscott, said that she has the same issues as Mr Lankford—in other words, once she switched to digital, not getting the channels she should. Graeme Leach and Ken Lee, who both live in Erskine, which is further south towards Mandurah, have the same issues as I have listed regarding the signal. They are also not eligible for the subsidy. That is the trouble with outer metropolitan electorates. The metropolitan arbitrary line is drawn such that, when it suits government and government agencies, these areas are deemed as metropolitan and if they are a bit further out they are still deemed to be metropolitan, if it suits them—for example, in terms of the provision of aged care. But in this case, because they are after proper treatment through this digital rollout, they can be considered to be not within a rural or regional area but metropolitan. They are in a very grey area.

The key point that I am making is that there are clearly ongoing issues with the digital TV rollout, which are going to be exacerbated once the complete switch-over takes place next year. The federal government and ACMA, seemingly, are unwilling to provide any assistance, only offering the VAST Satellite Subsidy Scheme to those in rural or remote regions. As I said, this offer is clouded in uncertainty and fraught with technical difficulties, which many of my constituents are extremely frustrated about. The minister has only answered these concerns with four suggestions—can you believe this? The response from the minister was: 'How about telling them to turn their aerials in a different direction,' or, 'Ask an aerial technician to assess the problem,' which they have already done. These people have already tried these options, but it is becoming a growing inconvenience and expense when they have to call out the TV repairman.

When you put this together with the government's initiative two budgets ago on set-top boxes, it just makes you realise how shambolic and symptomatic this is of a government handling an issue like this TV switch-over. The set-top box situation is just ludicrous. In fact, I have a number of set-top boxes that I cannot even give away to constituents because they do not want them. Attaching a set-top box to an analog TV for a pensioner is not the cheap, $350 option, because you then have to get out a technician to connect it and do something with the aerial. They would be far better off getting the same amount of money to allow them to go to JB Hi-Fi or Harvey Norman and just buy a proper digital TV for probably less money. You can get a good 32-inch digital TV at any of these places for about $350. This thinking is about as clever as some of the other brain snaps like pink batts, green loans and cash for clunkers that this government has come up with, and it does not solve the problem. The government needs a more orderly and structured process when people like those I have mentioned in my electorate are having extreme difficulty with this signal, whether it be for terrestrial reasons or due to the location of the tower—in his speech the member for Makin mentioned the shadow of the signal. All those sorts of issues need to be dealt with because people in outer urban electorates are just as important and just as equal as those in metropolitan areas. They deserve better.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I must share with the House that I have had similar problems with constituents in my electorate. It will be resolved in the future, and maybe I could meet with the member for Canning later and tell him what is happening in my area. I rise to support this legislation to improve the regulatory framework for digital television services. In particular, it will facilitate earlier access to services licensed under section 38C, known as VAST, for viewers in areas which will not be able to receive adequate digital reception after digital switch-over. It gives the minister greater flexibility in varying the dates of the switch-over determinations.

The Shortland electorate straddles two switch-over areas. The Hunter region switches over on 27 November 2012 and the Central Coast part of Shortland electorate, which is in the Sydney broadcasting area, will switch over in 2013. The legislation will allow for the management of the switch-over process by broadcasters and it will ensure the government's assistance schemes are delivered in a timely manner.

Shortland electorate has areas with significant digital signal problems. One area in particular is the suburbs of Belmont North and Jewells. They are very similar to areas that the member for Canning mentioned; they will not qualify for satellite and the subsidy that goes along with that. Also, many parts of the Central Coast area are affected, but the biggest problem on the Central Coast relates to the ABC. The signals are basically clashing and interfering with reception. That needs to be dealt with by the ABC. In relation to the problem in Belmont North and Jewells, there is going to be a new tower built that will circumvent some of the difficulties that are present in that area. If the member for Canning visits the website that shows where new towers are to be built, he will see if his area is missing out on one of the new towers. There has been lengthy community consultation, and I made sure that the residents in my area had all the information. It sounds like a very similar problem to the one that they were having. As a consequence of the intervention and presenting the information, Broadcast Australia has put in a proposal for a new transmission site, which will most likely use existing mobile phone towers. They put the technology onto that, and then that helps with the problem that is being experienced with reception.

The proposal has the new transmission site located on Violet Town Road at Belmont North, at the junction of Violet Town Road and the Pacific Highway. That will assist with the problem. The transmission will commence from that site about six weeks before the switchover. It will be completed in time for the switchover so that the people who would not have the ability to watch digital TV will have reception. The new transmission site should resolve all reception difficulties in the northern part of my electorate. I suggest that, if the member for Canning can link into a similar situation, then his problems will be resolved. I know there are a number of new transmission sites that are being constructed throughout the country. I am very pleased that the problem area I had at Belmont North and Jewells will be resolved. People who are experiencing problems should go to the mySwitch website and check how the improvements will affect them. Once again, if the member for Canning has a look at that site, he might find that it is going to help his constituents. The problems on the Central Coast are twofold. There are problems caused by topography, which is quite significant, and problems caused by signal clash of the ABC's single frequency network.

The legislation will allow commercial broadcasters to take a considered and managed approach to the massive task of switchover in metropolitan areas. Further work needs to be done on the Central Coast by commercial broadcasters to audit the reception problems and to plan solutions for the problems. That is something that I am going to be following very closely, because once the digital switchover takes place we need to ensure that people can receive television. It is not a very good situation if we have people who are not eligible for any sort of subsidy and cannot receive reception on their television sets. It can be resolved, as I have shown, and has been resolved at Belmont North and Jewells.

The big problem is in the ABC transmission and how the ABC intends to resolve the clash of their network. That is the biggest problem on the Central Coast. The other will be resolved but I think we need to resolve that issue with the ABC. I have made representation to the ABC about that. Some areas of my electorate are able to receive an ABC transmission from three sources: from Sydney, from Mount Sugarloaf and from the Central Coast. For many, many constituents this results in a signal clash and is very difficult for individual households to resolve. They turn their aerial one way and then the other, they raise their aerial and do many things but still do not resolve the problem. I would really encourage the ABC to resolve that issue on the Central Coast. It is very important to the constituents I represent in the parliament. But I am very, very pleased with the resolution found to the problems experienced by residents at Belmont Beach north of Jewells Beach in the northern part of my electorate. Those residents will be able to receive digital reception once the switchover takes place because of the action that the minister has facilitated through community consultation leading to Regional Broadcasting Australia putting in a proposal to upgrade the site and to ensure that digital television access is available.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the members who have contributed to the debate on the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital Television) Bill 2012. The bill contains a number of measures to improve the regulatory framework for digital television services. In particular, it will facilitate earlier access to services known as the Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, for viewers in areas unable to receive adequate digital reception after switchover. The bill will enable the conditional access scheme administrator for the VAST service to specify open-access areas to allow viewers in these areas immediate access to VAST. The bill also broadens the definition of applicable services used by the scheme administrator to assess eligibility to access VAST. As at 2 May 2012, over 68,400 households in remote and regional Australia had already been connected to VAST.

The bill also gives the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy greater flexibility in varying the dates in switchover determinations. It allows the minister to vary the date for a licensed areas digital switchover to any future date the minister specifies, provided that date is before 31 December 2013. Similar amendments will be made in respect of digital-only local market area determinations.

The amendments in this bill will provide the government and the broadcasting industry with the necessary flexibility to deliver a managed and efficient final stage of digital switchover. I thank all members who are supporting this bill's proposals, and I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.