Alan Eggleston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed, Senator Kemp. Progress towards digital conversion has not been slow at all. It is a process under which agreements have to be reached with existing free-to-air television companies. And, of course, there has to be public demand, which is growing slowly. I am sure that once the public become aware of the benefits of digital television—better picture, the opportunity for multichannelling—then the demand for digital television will be very rapid indeed.

I spent some time in Sydney last Friday. I went to Foxtel in the morning. Foxtel offer a very large multichannelling digital service. They tell me that they now have one-third of the homes in Sydney on their service, which shows that digital television’s penetration is increasing. In the afternoon, I went to an exhibition that Sony had at the Hordern Pavilion, in Moore Park, where they were demonstrating their high-definition digital television product, which, I might say, was absolutely brilliant. The cost of the television sets is now dramatically reduced. As people realise the benefits and the quality of high-definition digital television, the demand for access to those services will grow very quickly indeed. Senator Conroy need not worry further about the conversion date, because, when we get there, the Australian public will be very happy to have digital television.