Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

If I can respond also to Senator Xenophon’s remarks, Senator Xenophon is absolutely right that our third amendment has no consequences whatsoever for the minister’s desired timetable in relation to switch-off. All it is seeking to do is ensure the accountability of the government to the parliament for progress in relation to dealing with transmission infrastructure and black spots. This is a critical issue, particularly in rural and regional areas. Senator Xenophon and I represent the state of South Australia, which is the first area to be targeted by the minister in terms of switch-off. We think it is perfectly appropriate, given the enormous authority which these amendments give to the minister to decide for himself when an area is going to be switched off, that he should have to make quarterly reports to the parliament which, as I say, have no impact on the timetable, on the progress in ensuring the upgrading of digital transmission infrastructure. There are a whole lot of these so-called self-help transmitters around the country that we do need to ensure can meet the requirements. I am surprised the Greens would not be seeking to support amendment (3) for that very reason, that it has no impact on the timetable, it is about accountability of the minister and of the government to the parliament and the people of Australia with respect to the state of infrastructure. As Senator Williams so appropriately said, the enormous difficulties that rural and regional Australians had with respect to mobile telephone reception should remind us that if we want to reassure Australians that the government is taking their interests into account and ensuring that everything possible is being done to ensure that they can continue to receive a television signal once analog is switched off, this sort of information being provided to the parliament is appropriate and proper. I am amazed that the government has any difficulty with this amendment whatsoever.

In relation to the remarks the minister made in responding to Senator Xenophon, he seems to be setting up this straw man of the big, bad, nasty broadcasters. It was a remarkable attack upon Australia’s free TV broadcasters, who I think do a great job providing to Australians probably the best free-to-air television in the Western world. I am surprised by the slur he is casting upon them. To suggest that they do not want this to succeed I think is wrong. They do not want to pay for a simulcast for one day longer than is necessary. Of course they want to end the simulcast period. I think this is a straw man which the minister is setting up. Quite naturally the minister does not want any constraints whatsoever on the enormous power he is to be granted by this bill to decide for himself when a switch-over will occur. I understand. When you get into government you like to be able to act without any constraint from the parliament; I have been there and done that. But I think it is appropriate that the parliament does place some accountability measures on the minister in respect of the very great power that he is asking the parliament to give him in relation to the switch-off of analog. As I say, the broadcasters issue is a straw man. What we are concerned about is what is going to happen to the viewers and we want to make sure that there is not a viewer in this country who, when the minister decides he is going to switch off their analog signal, is looking at a blank screen. That is possible under this bill. We do not think that is good enough. There should be accountability measures and measures set in place with which the minister must comply before he can switch off and potentially render thousands of Australians without any TV signal at all.