New media laws start date uncertain

The radio industry’s merger plans will be put on hold until the government finds the least damaging path to introduce its new cross-media and foreign ownership rules.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan refuses to give any firm indication on when the new laws will be proclaimed.

Proprietors had been banking on the new laws coming into force in February, however speaking yesterday at the ACMA conference the Minister refused to be drawn on a date: “What I’ll be doing is announcing it next year. I’m not going to be specific about when, but it will certainly be next year.”

Heading into an election year, Prime Minister John Howard is reportedly worried a further flood of activity could be seized upon by Labor as a campaign issue. Howard is already on the record that he will spend as little political capital as possible on the changes.

Before passing the new legislation, Senator Coonan publicly expressed her opinion that the amendments wouldn’t lead to a flurry of mergers, however just hours after they went through the business community announced some of the biggest media takeovers in Australian history.