Australian Democrats
Statement to the ECITA committee report into Section 160(d) of the
Broadcasting Services Act.
15 February 1999
The Australian Democrats oppose any downgrading of the
current Australian content standard, in terms of both drama and documentary
programs.
Importance of Australian Content
The issue of content is also crucially important in our
current television environment, but the decision to amend the standard will
have serious long term implications. The evolution to digital broadcasting and
other technological developments mean that content will be delivered in many
different ways, across different media, and these should be protected. The
decision on Australian content should not be made using assumptions made on the
basis of current forms of analogue broadcasting. Australian content is going
to become increasingly more important in the future, not less so, as new
mediums of broadcasting services evolve.
We believe that the Governments, both of Australia and New
Zealand should renegotiate the Protocol on Trade in Services to the Closer
Economic Relations Trade Agreement in good faith, in order to exempt culture
from this and other trade treaties. We do not believe amendment to the
Australian content standard is in our national interest. We have received
advice that amendment to the CER, as noted by the Department of Foreign Affairs
and the Attorney General in their submissions, is the only way to proceed other
than amending the Standard. We call on the Government to consider this course
of action as the first and most important way to proceed on this matter.
The Australian Democrats are of the strong opinion that one
of the most important elements of Australian television is its Australian
content. As the majority report points out, television is one of our most
important sources of information and entertainment. It has the power to
influence public opinion, and has a key role to play in the promotion of
Australian cultural identity. It reflects the tastes, concerns and aspirations
of a multi-cultural society which is dynamic, changing, challenging and
incredibly complex.
Anything that attempts to amend our current levels of
Australian content seeks by implication, to downgrade the very important role
television plays in maintaining our sense of ourselves. But not only is
Australian content standard important in a cultural sense, it is also important
is securing the ongoing viability of our film and television industry. Film
and documentary makers, actors, writers, producers, and a host of supporting
industries rely on product produced for Australian content standards. Job
losses will surely result from any downgrading of the standard.
Everybody will remember
the High Court judgment on Blue Sky where the High Court noted that one
interpretation of the Act was that equal access might require 50 per cent of
Australia's quota being given to New Zealand programs. Of course, if that
happened, Australian audiences could see half of their favourite television
programs disappear and be replaced by New Zealand programs. Even if that
interpretation did not prevail, for every single New Zealand program that gets
into the Australian quota there is one fewer Australian program.
In some categories,
particularly children's drama, of which New Zealand is a significant producer
and Australian networks are not noted for a willingness to pay high prices, one
of the greatest fears is that Australian audiences might see all of their
Australian children's drama disappear and be replaced by New Zealand programs.
Arguably this has already happened in commercial television advertising, now
deregulated.
The Australian content
standard was written with a definite purpose in mind - to ensure that
Australians will be able to hear our own voices and see our own stories and our
own heroes in our largest mass medium. The history of Australian television
demonstrates that, before the standard was introduced, there were very few
Australian dramas, comedies, children's dramas or documentaries on commercial television.
The success of programs like Play School, Heartbreak High, Neighbours, Home
and Away, Blue Heelers, Water Rats and Wildside, are all built on that content
standard.
Most countries in the
world have local content quotas. They have them for the same reason we do: not
to protect an industry but to preserve their own culture in the face of the
enormous pressure from the largest producer of film and television and
multimedia in the whole world - the United States. United States film and
television is now that country's largest export industry. As an English
language country, we are particularly vulnerable to that kind of cultural
domination. This is particularly so in the case of third party co-productions,
where programs produced and owned outside of New Zealand could conceivable be
counted as New Zealand product, and therefore counted as Australian under the
proposed changes.
There is no doubt that
television, and its extension in the future digital age, will be the medium
through which most Australians experience much of Australian culture. Our
successful programs play an important role in reflecting and even in shaping
our culture and our society. They help to promote a sense of unity, social
cohesion and nationhood. These programs help to reiterate and reaffirm the fact
that we are a fair and tolerant society which resolves its problems through the
processes of justice and democracy.
When our television
programs are seen in other countries, they show Australia to be a country which
is modern, technologically advanced, safe, stable and democratic. That, of
course, is of enormous benefit to trade and tourism.
The High Court ‘Blue
Sky’ decision was a warning. Our Australian standards are vulnerable. We
cannot combine our culture with the culture of another country and still
maintain the uniqueness of our own. Solving this dilemma is not a job for the
Broadcasting Authority – it is the role of the Australian Parliament. Indeed,
the Australian Parliament has to approve of the Australian Broadcasting Authority’s
new standard.
The Australian government
should move quickly to examine other international treaties to ascertain that
other countries do not have rights over the introduction of their content under
our own current standards. The Australian Government should make it perfectly
clear that any amendment to current content standards are being made in
relation to New Zealand only. The Government should move immediately to ensure
that culture is exempt from all other bilateral and multilateral trade and
service treaties
Committee
recommendations:
Recommendation 7
This recommendation
should be the immediate and urgent priority of the Australian Government. As
stated, the Democrats are firmly of the opinion that the Government should seek
to have the Trade in Services Protocol to the Closer Economic Relations Trade
Treaty amended as the first and most important means to satisfy the High Court
ruling on ‘Blue Sky’ without undermining the current Australian Content
standard under the Broadcasting Services Act.
Recommendation 1
The Democrats agree with
this recommendation.
Recommendation 2
The ABA ought to commence
monitoring the effect of changes to the content standard on the day any new
standard comes into effect. It should report on the content standard under
qualifications made by the Australian Parliament in its annual report. Two
years is an arbitrary time frame.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority has stated it will
monitor the revised standard after the first two years of completion. The ABA
should commence monitoring immediately, and continue to provide a detailed
annual analysis of how the standard impacts on the operation of the
broadcasting industry. It should also report on the effect of the revised
standard in relation to its Charter, which is to promote the role of Australian
television to ensure it reflects a sense of Australian identity, character and
cultural diversity. The new standards may not be consistent with this
direction. Long term reporting is the only way to determine this outcome.
Recommendation 3
This recommendation
should make it clear that the Minister should notify the ABA in writing of any
obligations it has to international conventions, as per s580 of the
Telecommunications Act.
Recommendation 4
The Democrats do not believe that third party co-productions
should count as New Zealand product for the purposes of any amendment to the
content standard to include New Zealand product. The product to be included
should be fully owned and funded New Zealand product. Any letters of agreement
should reflect this.
Recommendation 5
The Democrats agree with this recommendation. However, we
are of the opinion that the recommendation should read: “...an exclusion clause
for cultural industries should be inserted in all future trade and service
agreements with other countries”.
Recommendation 6
The Democrats agree with this recommendation.
Senator Lyn Allison
Australian Democrats
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