Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In regional communities, local newspaper editors and journalists, radio and television reporters, and community radio hosts hold a very special position of trust, with people relying on them to keep them informed about what is happening. The media landscape has seen a change in the way in which people receive news, so media reforms will help guard the viability of local media organisations, which face increasing global competition in the digital landscape. The coalition government's media reforms comprise abolishing the 75 per cent reach rule, abolishing the two-out-of-three cross-media rule and introducing higher local content obligations on regional commercial television licensees who change their control or ownership arrangements. With the incredibly diverse range of media perspectives available at the click of a button, protections such as the 75 per cent reach rule and the two-out-of-three rule simply no longer make sense. Obligations to increase local content programming will benefit media consumers in regional areas like my electorate of Wide Bay.

My electorate is lucky to have three regional daily newspapers, an array of weekly and community newspapers, commercial and community radio stations, the ABC and two commercial television networks, Channel 7 and WIN. During the 2013 flood disaster, huge parts of Wide Bay were isolated by water. Without locally produced new sources, there would have been no relevant news at all. The Gympie Times and the Fraser Coast Chronicle were essential sources of information via their media platforms. As an emergency service worker during the floods, I collaborated with local media to keep the community both safe and informed. With more than 600 homes and businesses inundated and the majority of major roads cut, no metropolitan media were able to advise people which roads were open, what height the water would reach or where to get help. The responsibility fell to the local media, working closely with emergency services.

These are the very voices that media reform must protect. Even in less perilous times, these smaller news sources are the only place where people can turn for that quintessential local news—council coverage, nearby events and matters of importance in their own local main street. They hold our local politicians to account, and as Don Chipp said—and, as a politician myself, I know how important it is—we need to 'keep the bastards honest'. The coalition government's media reform will ensure the viability of these local voices into the future, allowing established media operators the flexibility— (Time expired)