Andrew Murray (WA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan. The minister said that she is aware of media and market speculation that the presently Australian owned PBL, one of the two largest media companies in Australia, may be selling off its major media assets, including Channel 9, to United States private equity investors. Is the minister aware of the restrictions surrounding foreign media ownership in the United States? Is it true that United States precedents indicate that if—and it is an ‘if’ because approval is not easy—an Australian or an Australian corporation wanted to buy a major TV channel in the United States, they would be unlikely to get approval for more than a 25 per cent holding? What rules, regulations or laws do you have in place that ensure American buyers of our media assets are treated in the same way that Australian buyers of American media assets would be? What reciprocal rights are there for us in the USA, or are you just going to give their carpetbaggers a free rein?