Greens and One Nation concerned about proposed media ownership rules – The Guardian

One Nation senators Peter Georgiou, Malcolm Roberts, Brian Burston and Pauline Hanson have concerns about the abolition of the 75% reach rule and two-out-of three media ownership rule. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

The government has a long way to go to win crossbench support for its media ownership changes, with the Greens and One Nation both expressing concerns about relaxation of ownership rules.

Nick Xenophon has supported the proposed restrictions on gambling ads and is open to changes to ownership rules but has linked the package to news organisations loss of revenue to Google and Facebook.

The media proposals are to abolish the two-out-of-three rule that prevents a company controlling more than two of three radio, television and newspapers in an area, and the reach rule that prohibits a proprietor from controlling a TV licence that reaches more than 75% of the population.

A spokesman for the One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts told Guardian Australia on Monday that Roberts shares Pauline Hansons concerns about the package, including the two-out-of-three rule and the reach rule.

Those concerns may be able to be addressed by a conversation [with the government] as they usually are.

The spokesman said One Nation wanted to see deep significant and long-lasting cuts to the ABC, a demand the government has poured cold water on by saying budget savings would be determined by the public interest.

On Monday the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, told ABC radio his party had grave concerns [the government package] undermines media diversity and further concentrates an already very concentrated media market.

Di Natale said Australia needed a strong, fierce, independent media and maintaining a diversity of voices would be one of the Greens key principles.

Asked if new technology such as internet streaming made media ownership laws redundant, Di Natale said that may have an impact on something like the 75% reach rule but it did not make all ownership rules redundant.

When youre looking at [abolishing] the two out of three rule, youll see further concentration.

One big business will own newspapers, radio, broadcasting facilities. It can mean youll be in one part of the country and you only hear, through those platforms, one voice.

If the Greens opposed the abolition of the two-out-of-three rule, the government would need the Nick Xenophon Team, One Nation and three of the remaining five crossbench senators to pass it.

The government has promised to scrap TV licence fees in return for the networks support for a new restriction that would ban gambling ads from five minutes before the start of live play of a sporting event until five minutes after the conclusion of play, or 8.30pm.

Xenophon told Radio National on Monday it was admirable and terrific that the government had got disparate sections of the media to agree to a package that should have happened years ago. He supported scrapping licence fees, labelling them an anachronism.

Xenophon said he was concerned about media diversity but what the government has proposed is a big improvement on what they had earlier. He promised to sit down and negotiate in good faith with the government to get the best outcome, but I would be a mug to lock myself in at this stage.

Xenophon said there were additional measures that needed to be considered, because internet giants Google and Facebook received $3.2bn in ad revenue by piggy-backing off Australian media content, despite not hiring journalists.

One such measure would be a small tax break for taxpayers who subscribed to emerging publications, which he said journalists and the media union would welcome.

The anti-gambling campaigner and minor party leader welcomed the proposed gambling ad restrictions as a good first step that provided some insulation of children from gambling ads.

He said he wanted gambling ad restrictions to go further and would work to prevent the gambling industry circumventing or watering down changes.

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Greens and One Nation concerned about proposed media ownership rules - The Guardian