Coalition Senators Additional Comments

1.1        Coalition Senators note that there appear to be a range of concerns with the current regulation of regional news content. Issues include those raised in the current ‘reach rule’ joint parliamentary inquiry, such as how those requirements can be met by producing a short 90 second news bulletin.

1.2        Coalition Senators note that WIN provided local news services via a full 30 minute bulletin in Mount Gambier and the Riverland without any legal requirement to do so for many years. We believe this is a demonstration that they seek to serve the communities they broadcast to. It is disappointing that they now find that for financial reasons they are unable to continue to do so.

1.3        Coalition Senators do not believe that requiring cross-subsidisation or the operation of loss making services is a viable solution to this problem in communities of such limited broadcast audience.

1.4        In relation to private broadcasters, we believe there would be benefit in a more wide-ranging review of current regional content broadcasting requirements that could consider an effective spectrum of solutions to ensure regional areas of all population sizes receive at least some local content that is affordable for broadcasters to deliver.

1.5        Coalition Senators welcome the commitment of the ABC to increasing production of video content in regional areas, including Renmark, as well as the other ways the ABC provides coverage of regional communities.

1.6        Coalition Senators believe that where market failures may occur in respect to commercial broadcasters providing regional content that this is logically a space where engagement of the public broadcaster should be considered.

1.7        Coalition Senators urge the ABC to give priority to underserved areas during future internal allocations of resources and to consider how specific local television news content from communities like Renmark or Mount Gambier could be broadcast into them.

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