Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers by Senator Conroy on the government's media reforms—reforms that have been taken way out of context by those opposite. Their language reminds me of their Chicken Little-like carry-on during the debate on pricing carbon.

These reforms strike a balance. We need to be clear here: the reforms proposed are not an attack on freedom of speech; these reforms are not rushed. There has been significant debate in the Australian community for many years, including two significant reviews conducted recently; a debate about how self-regulation of the media is working and how it is not working; a debate about local content on our screens, about hearing Australian voices and telling Australian stories; and a debate about the ownership of media organisations, about whether there is a need for a diverse range of owners to provide a diverse range of options.

The government has listened to these conversations and to the significant reviews, and has presented a reform package that reflects these. What the government is not doing is responding to the way those opposite are seeking to frame the debate. The government is not directly regulating what a journalist says. The current self-regulation, through the Press Council, is not working as well as it should. We are proposing to fix this issue to enhance the resources of self-regulation in order to give the Australian public more confidence in the news organisations that provide them with vital information about our society and ensure this information and the commentary associated with it is fair and accurate.

The new Public Interest Media Advocate will be a part-time role filled by the government on consultation with the opposition. The advocate will work with print and online media to ensure that journalists and news organisations are living up to the standards and codes of practice they have set up. For so long, we have heard that the current self-regulation system in the print media is not working. We hear that complaints are not followed up seriously and that breaches do not matter because there are no credible sanctions for breaking the codes of practice. We believe in a free and fair media, but we also believe in a government's role to assist the community in areas of concern. The Public Interest Media Advocate will also play an important role in regulating media ownership. As we are all aware, media ownership is already regulated but with structural changes within the industry, including the increase in online media, there is a need for a change to the system.

Australians know that a diversity of media ownership assists in promoting a diversity of views, opinions and ideas, and enhances the system to ensure that strong diversity in media ownership actually improves free speech. It does not diminish free speech, as those opposite continually state. There is a real risk in this country that over time there will be fewer and fewer organisations in charge of our news. This limits our nation's ability to have quality debate on the issues of significance or, in the language of those opposite, fewer news organisations limit our freedom.

Just as diversity of opinion is fundamental in news media, it is also vital that many Australian stories are told on our airwaves every day. Many people I speak to are concerned by the spread of more and more cheap overseas television, mostly from the USA, which tell American stories and use American phrasing. More Australian stories on television will mean our kids are growing up with crocodiles not alligators and meat pies not hot dogs. It will mean that our sense of an Australian identity will be further strengthened as our televisions move to high-definition digital and the network capacity allows for far more than the old five traditional stations.

The changes to the ABC and SBS charters bring these into line with the digital media services provided by these stations. We do have social media in 2013. We do have program delivery over the internet. It is important that the charters of our public broadcasters reflect these usage patterns. The changes to the charters reflect the role of our public broadcasters at the forefront of the Australian media transition to a new digital environment, once again, delivering on enhancing opportunities for debate, for discussions and definitely not limiting freedoms. These reforms have been taken way out of context by those opposite. At every turn, the opposition seek to strike fear into the hearts of the Australian people. The reforms proposed are not an attack on freedom of speech. They are not rushed. They will deliver well-considered reform to our media industry. (Time expired)