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

I made the observation, I think, in a number of interviews that I have undertaken that the government's media reform package recognises that different broadcasters operate in different environments. Colleagues would know that the government has decided to abolish licence fees for free-to-air broadcasters and to replace those with a more modest spectrum charge. Colleagues would also be aware that the government has announced that there will be further restrictions on the advertising of gambling during live sporting events, and that will be across platforms. I think colleagues will know that subscription TV doesn't pay licence fees, and as a result there won't be a reduction in fees for those organisations, yet those organisations will have the gambling ad restrictions applied to them. So we recognise as a government that there are different operating environments.

We wanted to make sure that in implementing this package—and it's important to look at this package as a whole—there wasn't a detriment to the coverage of women's sports, and we announced in the budget a measure to support and enhance the coverage of women's sports and niche sports. What we announced was $7½ million per year over a number of years, terminating.