Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

If I can continue on from what Mr Anderson indicated in his remarks, he also said that the two-out-of-three rule should go, which leads me to: what are the alternatives?

There is not a great deal in the way of alternative policy in this area. What there is is some reflexive, negative approaches to what the government is putting forward—and I am talking, of course, about the Australian Labor Party who, when we put the 75 per cent and two-out-of-three rule legislation to the parliament, referred it off to Senate committee for many months. We then had the election and introduced it again, and they then again referred it off to Senate committee for many months, saying it was piecemeal. What we are putting forward here is a very broad package, and guess what Labor are saying now? They are saying that what we are putting forward as a government is just housekeeping. What we were putting forward before, apparently, was piecemeal, and this—which is comprehensive—they are now saying is housekeeping. I think it is time to put aside the arguments of the past and support Australian media. (Time expired)