Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There has never been a more important time than now for strong public interest journalism. There's never been a more important time than now for journalism to be free of commercial and political interference. Many Australians are aware that there's been a push for years to get a royal commission into the Murdoch press and its influence on our democracy. This idea is already under relentless assault from commercial and political interests.

But, unfortunately, and very concerningly, there's been a new development, a new assault on public interest journalism. I wanted to talk tonight specifically about Australian Digital Holdings, ADH. Last year, in November, the Guardian published an article written by Amanda Meade, 'Fears for local news diversity if rightwing startup buys Southern Cross regional TV network'. It goes on to say:

Fringe news streaming channel ADH TV, which launched with Alan Jones at the helm, confirms offer for 93 regional free-to-air stations—

and talk about concerns, including from Matthew Ricketson, a professor of communication at Deakin University, who said:

We already know that the provision of locally gathered and reported news and current affairs in regional and rural Australia is stretched almost to breaking point …

If what gets added in there now is slanted heavily to one side of politics or another, does that serve rural and regional audiences in being provided with good quality public interest journalism?

It was then reported not long ago, on Friday 28 February, that conservative news operator Australian Digital Holdings had purchased Southern Cross Austereo's television assets. This was in an article by Josh Duggan at the ABC, and he mentions that Nightly News 7 Tasmania has the highest ratings and the most eyeballs. If you read Mr Duggan's article, he talks about concerns from Channel 7 staff, expressed in representations made to him privately, about their editorial independence, given the ultraconservative background of Australian Digital Holdings.

So what is Australian Digital Holdings? Australian Digital Holdings TV launched in December 2021 with Alan Jones at the helm—and some other shady characters. But, most tellingly, it is chaired by Maurice Newman, the co-founder of ADVANCE. Senator Scarr, you get to hear me talk about this again tonight. For those who don't know, ADVANCE is the Liberal aligned and Liberal funded—through the McCormack foundation—astroturfing group that led the campaign against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and a string of other conservative campaigns. You'd probably have to be living under a rock to not know that they're the group that are going after the Greens. They see the Greens as enemy No. 1 in our democracy and are boasting to be spending up to $15 million to wipe us off the electoral map. Let's just say that they're trying to be significant players in the Australian landscape, and we don't really know much about them except that they are aligned with the Liberal Party directly and are funded by the Liberal Party. We also know they're aligned with the Atlas Network, a conservative think tank out of the US that has over 550 subsidiary organisations, including many here in Australia. Yet, throughout all ADVANCE's toxic campaigning, they've refused to front the media, despite authoring and publishing vast quantities of disinformation.

Not only is Australian Digital Holdings TV chaired by the co-founder of ADVANCE—as I mentioned, Maurice Newman—but, until February 2025, it even listed ADVANCE as one of its official partners on its website. This, clearly, gives rise to concerns that Australian Digital Holdings TV would not only join the likes of Rupert Murdoch's Sky News in operating a deeply conservative news channel—which, of course, it has a right to do—but will operate as ADVANCE's very own media mouthpiece.

To your point there, Senator Scarr, it would be one thing if Australian Digital Holdings TV were to remain a fringe media entity, which it is—as is Sky TV, by the way. However, as I mentioned, on 28 February, they purchased 93 regional free-to-air stations owned by Southern Cross Austereo—including, unfortunately, Nightly News 7 Tasmania, which is the biggest and most popular commercial TV network. These assets also included Network Ten affiliates in Tasmania, Darwin, the Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill, Mount Isa and remote central and eastern Australia and Channel 9 regional affiliates in the Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill.

As I mentioned, staff at Channel 7 in Tasmania are among those already raising concerns about ADVANCE's ultra-right-wing leanings. When asked about ADH TV's listing of ADVANCE as one of their partners on their website, ADH director Jason Morrison blatantly lied, telling journalists the partnership never existed. Yet we have screenshots of the site listing from February—which we were using in our research, coincidentally—which mention ADVANCE and a number of other very interesting official partners. Journalists who have been looking at this can also confirm the listing using Wayback Machine, an online internet archive that fields a digital library of internet sites.

Another question: who is ADH director Jason Morrison? Mr Morrison is a former adviser to mining magnate Gina Rinehart and has been a vocal supporter of Peter Dutton's nuclear plan. In 2014 he even confirmed he was interested in standing for one of the safest state Liberal seats in New South Wales.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How dare he!

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, of course, he's allowed to do that. But if you join a few dots here, Senator Scarr, a very clear picture emerges of another media outlet in this country that was claiming until recently that it was directly associated with ADVANCE and, therefore, the Liberal Party.

In addition to purchasing 93 free-to-air stations owned by Southern Cross Austereo, ADH TV has launched the Australian arm of American right-wing media company Newsmax. Newsmax Australia's YouTube channel currently hosts programs with former Australian Christian Lobby head Lyle Shelton, former federal Liberal candidate and anti-trans rights advocate Katherine Deves, David Flint and Chris Smith, and has older videos from the Jones program. Where is the money to pay for this coming from? We're not sure who the other backers are—apart from the fact James Packer has invested some money in ADH TV.

As for ADVANCE: according to AEC disclosures, ADVANCE amassed over $5.2 million in donations in 2023 alone. It's hardly a grassroots movement and we know it's bankrolled by a number of very wealthy billionaires, some of them with direct connections to fossil fuel industries. It's no secret—it's on the public record—that backers include Sam Kennard, vitamin mogul and Australian rich-lister Marcus Blackmore, coal barons like Trevor St Baker and multimillionaire investment bank managers like Simon Fenwick. They're not trying to hide that; that's all on the public record.

Who were the other partners of Australian Digital Holdings on the website that they secretly took down and then denied ever existed? They mentioned the Centre for Independent Studies, the Institute of Public Affairs, CPAC, Samuel Griffith, all Atlas organisations and all our favourite Australian subsidiaries of Atlas organisations. However, they also included One Nation and Family First; both have also been funded by the Cormack Foundation, as has ADVANCE.

Here we have a shady, dodgy network of right-wing think tanks, all associated with an international umbrella group of think tanks, the Atlas Network, all associated with the Liberal Party—and now they're buying our media assets. As I mentioned earlier, there has never been a more important time than now to invest in public interest journalism and have a media that is free of commercial and political interests.

Senate adjourned at 21:43