Nick Xenophon
What’s your position on the 75 per cent reach rule and the two out of three rule?
My position is that the internet has been a great disrupter, and these rules were established a long
time ago, before Al Gore or Malcolm Turnbull invented the internet. In all serious, they’re
outdated. So I’m open-minded on any proposal that’s put forward and I think that everything
needs to be considered given the disruption that the internet has caused.
But my support for any proposal depends on what safeguards are included. Will you still have
vibrant competition? What will the requirements be for local content? These are the things I’ll be
looking for in any proposal.
Local news content is important. When WIN TV axed its local bulletins in the Riverland, the
community suffered. Less local news coverage means less accountability.
In the absence of a commercial television presence in regional areas I think we would need to look
at the ABC providing a TV news service but the only way that can happen is if you provide the ABC
with the adequate funding, and this current government, or at least the Abbott government, was
taking funds away from the ABC. If isn’t a commercial network providing that service then the ABC
needs to fill that gap, as long as it is given adequate funding.
Providing that service would be a lot cheaper and much more efficient than in the past, due to
advances in technology, but you still need people on the ground in regional areas to provide good
local content.