After fifteen months of negotiations, the Government has reintroduced its new Media Ownership Bill into the Senate, hoping to gain support from key independents to pass the bill.

That support is now more likely, since the independents seem to have won some concessions for increased ABC funding in return for their votes, but Senator Haradine may be the sticking point if he proposes further amendments.

The second reading debate in the Senate commenced on 24 March 2003 and was postponed while Communications Minister Alston had further discussions to gather the required number of votes to pass the bill. The government now believes it has the numbers and will introduce the legislation next week.

The legislation seeks to implement the Coalition’s 2001 Federal election commitment to provide for exemptions from the cross media rules and to remove the foreign ownership restrictions contained in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.

The Bill, which would allow the Australian Broadcasting Authority to issue cross-media exemptions in certain circumstances, was introduced into the House of Representatives on 21 March 2002 and has since been debated and passed by the House. The Bill was also considered by a Senate Committee in June 2002.

Senator Alston, who is sponsoring the bill says: “From day one, Labor has said it is opposed to the legislation despite telling the industry before the last Federal election that it favoured such reforms.

While the legislation has been before the Parliament, the Government has held extensive discussions with Independent and One Nation Senators and examined all sensible proposals for amendment in an effort to reach a workable compromise.”

As a result of negotiations with Independent and One Nation Senators, “a number of significant enhancements to the Bill have been developed. In combination, these enhancements provide strong safeguards to protect diversity of news and opinion and to prevent market dominance by any media group.”

During the debate, the Government will move four further amendments to maximize chances of the bill getting through the Senate:

* An extension to all metropolitan markets of the restriction on owning more than two out of the three types of media covered by the cross media rules in any one licence area (the proposal in the media ownership Bill only applies to regional markets).

* A requirement that the ABA impose a licence condition on all commercial television broadcasters in regional aggregated markets requiring the broadcast of a minimum amount of local news and information.

* A requirement that a mandatory review of Part 5 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (ownership and control provisions) be conducted in three years time.

* Amendments to tighten the circumstances in which approval of a temporary ownership or control breach under section. 67 of the Broadcasting Services Act could be granted, including ensuring that approvals are granted only for the minimum necessary time.

In addition, the Government has indicated that it is prepared to favourably consider the following increased safeguards to ensure diversity of news and opinion suggested by Independent and One Nation Senators:

* An amendment stipulating that a cross-media merger cannot be approved unless five independently owned commercial media outlets (across radio, associated newspapers and TV) in metropolitan markets, and four in regional markets, remain in the market after the cross-media acquisition occurs.

* A requirement that the ABA impose a licence condition on all metropolitan commercial television broadcasters (in addition to regional broadcasters) requiring the broadcast of a minimum amount of local news and information.

* Amendments to permit datacasting of local-based, regional sporting events.

* A prohibition on ownership of more than one associated newspaper per market applicable to holders of cross-media exemption certificates.

* An amendment to extend application of the current proposed ‘two out of three’ rule to include small local newspapers in regional areas, subject to an aggregated circulation threshold and a by-way-of-sale requirement to ensure that the very small weekly or largely free newspapers are not captured.

* A requirement that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) fully examine and report on whether a proposed cross media merger satisfies the requirements of s50 or is otherwise authorised under s88 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) before the ABA can issue an exemption certificate.

* An explicit provision confirming that nothing in the media ownership provisions of the BSA exempts a merger from the restrictive provisions of the TPA. This ensures that competition tests administered by the ACCC will apply. Those tests have regard to all relevant markets, including those not subject to the cross media rules, such as the Internet and Pay TV.

According to Senator Alston, current existing safeguards, already in place, include:

* A prohibition on any media company operating more than one commercial television licence in a licence area.

* A prohibition on any media company operating more than two commercial radio licences in a licence area.

* A prohibition on any media company operating commercial television licences which reach more than 75 per cent of the Australian population.

* A requirement for separate and distinct editorial decision making responsibilities (including news management, compilation, gathering and interpretation capabilities) in cross media holdings.

* A requirement for public disclosure of a cross media relationship.

* A requirement that regional cross media holders with television or radio licences provide a minimum level of local news and information.

These provisions are supported by the continuing operation of the competition provisions of the TPA, which prevent mergers or acquisitions that would substantially lessen competition.

If the Government gets Senate support for its media ownership reforms, it will “commit the necessary funding to extend ABC News Radio to all transmission areas with more than 10,000 people, subject to spectrum availability.”

This will provide up to 62 areas of regional Australia with new or improved access to a dedicated national news service.

Regardless of the outcome of the Senate debate, the Government has expressed its “appreciation to the four Independent and One Nation Senators for their genuine interest in the media ownership issue and their strong commitment to ensuring that the Government’s legislation protects diversity of news and opinion, which is so important to all Australians.”

Shadow Communications Minister Lindsay Tanner is not as enthusiastic as Senator Alston about the new bill, calling it “tinkering with media ownership” and “a complete joke.”

“Senator Alston’s tinkering with the media ownership bill doesn’t alter the fact that this Bill will lead to Australia’s media being dominated by three media giants,” said Tanner.

”The proposed amendments announced today will still allow a massive reduction in media ownership in Australia. It will still permit News Limited to acquire the Seven Network, PBL/Nine Network to acquire Fairfax, and the Ten Network to acquire Southern Cross, thereby creating three commercial media giants totally dominating the market.”

He says the proposed amendments won’t stop a media mogul from owning Sydney or Melbourne’s major television station and newspaper.

“The minor sweeteners provided by the Government to allay specific concerns raised by independent Senators are no compensation for the loss of media diversity this Bill guarantees,”says Tanner, who urged the Senate to oppose the bill.