Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to reiterate the Australian Democrats’ opposition to this set of media bills that we are dealing with. It is our very strong view that cross-media laws should not be changed until a number of things happen—including that competition is improved; that Telstra has been divested of its interest in Foxtel and the HFC cable; that full digitisation has been achieved, including having more available spectrum; and that the range of new services provided by technology is more mature and utilised by more customers. We are very concerned about many other aspects of the media ownership changes. We see very few benefits in them. We look forward to seeing what the amendments are that have been agreed to with the National Party; however, they are almost certain to have not resolved those matters which I have already raised in my speech in the second reading debate. (Quorum formed)