James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The State of Origin was broadcast on free to air, but it is a popular sport, especially in Queensland, in Senator Macdonald's home town of Ayr but also where his office is, in Townsville—which I think, Senator Macdonald, should be renamed Thurstonville to reflect Johnathan Thurston and what a magical person he is and what an all-round decent person he is. But I digress. As important as the major sports like rugby league, netball and soccer are, we have got to look at the niche sports. This is what this package will do, in terms of promoting niche sports. I have been lobbied, for example, in relation to lawn bowls. I would not call lawn bowls a niche sport. I would say it is a mass participation sport. It is very popular up in Queensland, especially in the winter months.

These reforms will ensure the ongoing production of high-quality Australian content. When you think about the quality of some of the programs that have been produced over the years, like TheSullivans or The Flying Doctors and programs like that which reflected the Australia of that particular time but also a changing Australia, you can see that Australia produces some fantastic content for television that is spread around the world. Our television programs are electronic ambassadors for our country in the message that they take to the world. Any of us who has spent any time in the United Kingdom will know that those in the United Kingdom see Australia through the prism of Home and Away and Neighbours and—they do not call it Prisoner; they call it Prisoner: Cell Block H. I think The Sullivans was a great drama. What I am trying to say is: we produce high-quality television programs in this country and we should be proud of that. This package will ensure that we continue to produce high-quality television programs.

This package also acknowledges that the broadcasting sector is facing increasing competition and that measures such as the new gambling advertising restrictions will place pressures on the broadcasters. With these reforms that have been put through Senator Fifield, the government has deliberately gone out and listened to the media industry and asked: what can we do in order to help you survive; what can we do to help you provide jobs for thousands of Australians; what can we do to make sure that your industry not just sustains itself but grows in the decades to come? That is why the government has decided to abolish broadcasting licence fees. There are new restrictions on gambling advertising. As I mentioned earlier, gambling advertising is not popular in the community, especially when children are watching television programs. These new restrictions on gambling advertising should apply to all platforms—free-to-air, subscription and online.

These changes in fees are significant reforms for the broadcasting industry and they build on the media reforms that we have already announced and that are currently before parliament that look to abolish the two-out-of-three rule and the 75 per cent reach rule.