Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I have enjoyed the contributions of my colleagues in the committee stage and I think it demonstrates one of the many virtues of the way this place operates. I think Senator Xenophon's proposition for an amendment to add regional South Australia to the list of commercial television licence areas that are subject to local content licence conditions has been well canvassed. While the government clearly does support the provision of local news and content to the people of South Australia, we believe the amendment proposed by Senator Xenophon is not necessary.

In 2013 the ACMA conducted an inquiry into the provision of local content in South Australia. It found that in Mount Gambier and the Riverland, the two licence areas where commercial television licensees do not produce local content, 86 per cent of residents were generally satisfied with the level of local content available. This included local content sourced from state based television news produced in Adelaide, services produced by the ABC and via commercial radio, print and online news sources. The ACMA concluded that the local content obligations were operating effectively and that there was no clear case for an extension of local content obligations to additional regional areas given the high level of satisfaction reported by residents in regard to their access to local content, the high cost of providing local content and the adverse financial impact this would have on the relevant licensees.

Senator Xenophon was not expecting government support on his amendment, and I confirm that.