Australian media inquiry releases its recommendations after more than a year and a string of delays

Calls for a judicial inquiry into Australian media led by the Greens has split a Senate committee.

Labor has rejected a Greens-led call for a judicial inquiry into Australian media that has also split a Senate committee and been described by its Liberal deputy chairman as “reckless”.

The rejection of “yet another inquiry” into media diversity followed a 13-month investigation into the same issue and a 304-page report released on Thursday.

The Senate media diversity inquiry, chaired by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, also made a wide range recommendations for media reform, including additional funding for AAP news wire, new regional media outlets, and public broadcasters the ABC and SBS.

It also recommended tax cuts for public interest media outlets and, in a surprise move, called for major upgrades to the National Broadband Network to meet “a fit-for-purpose standard” as originally designed.

Chair of the Senate Inquiry into Media Diversity Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

However, the inquiry’s controversial call for “a judicial inquiry with the powers of a royal commission” into Australian media was rejected by two of its six core members, with one Senator blasting it as an “abject waste of public monies”.

The inquiry, launched in November 2020, was designed to probe the “diversity, independence and reliability” of media in Australia, as well as issues including the impact of tech giants and barriers faced by small media outlets.

Its recommendations come after a string of delays, more than 5000 submissions, and five public hearings attended by speakers including representatives from Google, Facebook, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, News Corp, Nine, and AAP.

In handing down its findings, Senator Hanson-Young said quality journalism was a vital lifeline to Australians but media regulation was “broken,” complaints processes were “slow,” and she called for a new judicial inquiry to investigate “the state of media diversity and dominance in Australia”.

“This is a move the parliament itself can make,” she said.

Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg during the proceedings.

But the inquiry’s own deputy chairman, Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg, launched a dissenting report against its recommendations, warning they had the potential to “undermine freedom and the freedom of the press in Australia,” while Country Liberal Party Senator Sam McMahon said a judicial inquiry could “waste tens of millions of dollars”.

The call for another inquiry was also rejected by Labor Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, who said there had already been too many reviews of the media and not enough reforms.

“In the last decade there have been over 20 inquiries into media regulation, and this latest Senate inquiry now recommends yet another inquiry,” Ms Rowland said.

Ms Rowland said a “pragmatic, principles-based and evidence-informed work program” was needed instead to take action on reforms that had already been recommended, including findings from the Press Freedom Inquiry earlier this year.

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller, who also appeared before the inquiry, rejected its findings.

“This report’s calls for yet another expensive media inquiry and even more regulation lack justification,” he said. “Neither are warranted.”

Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said Australian media outlets had faced huge challenges from tech giants and the Covid-19 pandemic, but the inquiry’s recommendations did not address “the practical problems confronting media in Australia today”.

“Australia is fortunate in having a vibrant, diverse media sector,” he said.