Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Water) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I refer to the government’s proposal to require regional radio stations to produce a local content plan that sets out how they will provide local news and information if they become part of a cross-media group. Can the minister confirm that this idea is similar to the local presence plan that the government imposed on Telstra? Isn’t it the case that Telstra’s local presence plan has allowed the company to announce the sacking of up to 12,000 workers and the removal of 5,000 payphones? Given this experience, why should anyone in regional centres like Orange, Dubbo or Albury believe that their local news service will not be gutted if their radio station gets swallowed up in a merger? What guarantees can the minister give that this will not happen?