Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Warren said:

Globally, we are in an age of the big fish eating up the small fish. We are in an age of global media conglomerates. Australia is a small country. We have given rise to a couple of the big media players in global terms. We have lost out through the diversity of outlets and ownership of outlets that Australia has had in my lifetime. This is a matter of defending the health of democracy based on the right of all citizens to have a diversity of information, news and news analysis available to them.

The Greens will oppose this legislation. We recognise the government may have the numbers, but we will be supporting amendments to at least blunt some of the worst teeth biting into the public’s right to diversity which are built into this legislation. When it comes to the third reading, we will still be opposing this legislation but, if there are amendments—and I note those from Senator Murray—which help to improve the trajectory of this legislation away from its negative impact on Australian society, we will be supporting them as we go.