Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hanson-Young. As I was saying in my original answer, the Albanese government does support a diverse and sustainable media sector, and we recognise that quality news and public interest journalism plays an important role in the functioning of Australian society and democracy. It is essential to informing local communities. Labor has long acknowledged and voiced concerns about the level of media concentration in Australia, which is why the Albanese Labor government is focused on supporting and fostering diversity in our media.

It's also why the government has affirmed a clear position that a royal commission or judicial inquiry into media concentration is not the way forward for media policy. There have already been multiple reviews and inquiries into the media and public interest journalism over the past decade, yet the recommendations from these processes have not been properly addressed. Rather than holding another inquiry, we need to be outcomes focused in implementing the backlog of recommendations that already exist.