Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Coonan. Will the minister advise the Senate how Australian phone users, particularly young users, are being protected from unexpectedly high bills? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ronaldson for the question and for his very keen interest in these matters. I always appreciate his perspective on these matters. The impact of unexpectedly high phone bills, particularly as a result of premium services, such as SMS and ring tone services, is of significant concern to the community, particularly to young people. That is why in August last year I wrote to the CEO of every major service provider, indicating that the government expected the industry to develop an effective registered code of practice without delay. In that letter, I made it clear that the government expected the industry to protect consumers, especially young people, from unexpectedly high phone bills. I am very pleased to tell the Senate that the Australian Communications Industry Forum, or ACIF, did release a new industry code at the end of last week in response to the concerns that had been brought to their attention.

The revised credit management code is an important achievement in ensuring the protection of all phone users through the flexible self-regulation framework. The industry has responded positively. I am particularly pleased that equal numbers of consumer and industry representatives have now come together to develop this comprehensive set of rules. I would certainly urge young people and their parents to be very cautious about what they sign up to and to be very clear about fees and charges that are attached to these services. I am referring to premium services that are promoted to young people, such as popular SMS and ring tone services, which can certainly rack up very high bills in a very short period of time.

The revised code requires for the first time that service providers put in place a financial hardship policy together with people who are appropriately trained to assist customers, who are often very young and inexperienced, who are having difficulty in paying their accounts. This is entirely appropriate, and providers must provide ways to help limit customer spending, such as caps on expenditure, call-barring facilities or prepaid facilities. Customers must also have access to current information on the unused credit on their accounts, which was another important matter brought to ACIF’s attention.

These and other provisions in the code will address the key concerns raised in the ACMA report entitled Preventing unexpectedly high bills. ACMA is currently assessing the code, which will become enforceable once it is registered. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate industry participants, consumer bodies and ACIF for their commitment to the development of the code and to protecting consumers. I also add that it could be instructive for those opposite who criticise consultation to look carefully at what can be achieved by working cooperatively with the industry for the good of the community. It is very easy in these matters of very complex policy to shoot from the lip but, by working constructively, there are practical solutions to be found if you are willing to do the work. Unfortunately, that is not very appealing if you are a policy-lazy group of people who are more interested in sound bites and stunts than solutions. This code is a very good outcome, particularly for young people.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Coonan. I also congratulate her on her promotion to Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. I refer the minister to the government’s plans to repeal the cross-media laws, as outlined in her recent speech to the National Press Club. Can the minister confirm that, under her so-called diversity test, cross-media mergers would be allowed in regional Australia so long as at least four major media players remained? Can the minister also confirm that the application of this test in Queensland would see the number of media owners in Cairns fall from seven to four and in Bundaberg from six to four? Why does the minister believe that this sort of increased concentration of media ownership is in the public interest, especially the public interest of regional Queensland?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McLucas for the question. What I have in fact said is that I will be releasing a position paper that will develop some options for consideration of how the diversity test and the cross-media and foreign ownership changes will work. The five-four test that I talked about in the Press Club address to which Senator McLucas refers does place a very clear floor under the level of ownership concentration that could take place within the regulated media categories—that is, commercial television and radio and associated newspapers. While it sets a floor in relation to cross-media limits, it certainly does not mean that the market will necessarily move to that floor.

I am very glad that Senator McLucas raises regional markets. But, first of all, I should say that in Sydney and Melbourne the limit on ownership of commercial radio licences to two per licence area, which is not proposed to change, means that the theoretical minimum of five set by the diversity test could not be reached in any event, because the effect of this would be a minimum of six separate groups. As you can see, it is quite a complex proposal, Senator McLucas, but in many regional markets the number of independent media groups is already at or below four and hence no further consolidation would be permitted under this approach.

In addition, ACMA, under the proposal, would have the task of ensuring that the ‘minimum voices’ requirement is approved, and of course any movement whatsoever would also be subject to the general competition principles that are to be administered by the ACCC. As Senator McLucas would be able to glean from this, it is not just a matter of providing a minimum limit and letting it rip; there will be significant safeguards, if indeed this is the proposal that the government adopts.

In addition, Australians would continue to have access to a large number of other sources of news, opinion and entertainment. As we all know, we are all able to get opinions of great diversity from now hundreds if not thousands of different sources, often unmediated by any local media group. So new technology and new opportunities mean that we can look very critically at what will continue to deliver diversity and choice to consumers when the media changes proceed.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Is the minister aware of a survey conducted by the ANU centre for social research which found that 81 per cent of Australians thought that media ownership was too concentrated among a few rich families? Will the minister listen to the overwhelming majority of Australian people and rule out changes that will bring about further concentration of media ownership in Australia? I further ask: can the minister confirm that the application of her test in Queensland would see the number of media owners in Cairns fall from seven to four and, in Bundaberg, from six to four?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I can say is that what this government is doing is looking comprehensively at what needs to happen with media in view of changed technology and to move on from the absolute lockstep that Senator McLucas’s party put this country into, where you had nothing but the queens of the screen, the rajahs of radio and the princes of print. We have moved on from then, and this government will continue to look after the interests of consumers and continue to ensure diversity.

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.