Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Has the minister seen comments by the chair of the coalition’s backbench communications committee, Mr Paul Neville, that her media proposals are ‘the exact opposite of competition’ and would centralise and consolidate regional markets? Can the minister confirm that under this proposal the number of major media owners in Cairns could fall from seven to four and from six to four in Townsville, Rockhampton and Toowoomba? Why does the minister expect her colleagues Senator Boswell and Senator Joyce to support a proposal that will inevitably result in less media diversity and less real local content in regional Queensland? Why is the minister putting the interests of aspiring media moguls, like the Macquarie Bank, ahead of the people of regional Australia?