MASS MEDIA POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Fifield close to reform breakthrough

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 : 11-Sep-17

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield is believed to be close to securing a deal for the Nick Xenophon Team to support cross-media ownership reforms in the Senate. Fifield held negotiations with NXT senators ahead of Senate debate on the media reform bill on 11 September. The Government hopes to end the impasse which followed its rejection of NXT’s original proposal regarding tax breaks for smaller media companies. The media reforms require the support of a majority of cross-benchers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Media reform in days: Xenophon

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 8-Sep-17

The Federal Government is continuing to negotiate with the Nick Xenophon Team in a bid to secure support for cross-media ownership reforms. The talks are centred on financial assistance for smaller media companies, with the NXT open to scaling back its proposed tax breaks for such companies. The Government in turn is believed to have proposed offering grants or tax offsets to smaller publishers. It is also negotiating with the Greens, whose proposals include a content fund for local TV production.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), ONE NATION PARTY, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BUZZFEED PTY LTD

Xenophon puts reform deal within reach

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 3 : 7-Sep-17

The Federal Government’s prospects of getting its cross-media ownership reforms through the upper house have been bolstered by further negotiations with the Nick Xenophon Team. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has offered a compromise deal regarding the NXT’s push to provide tax breaks for smaller media companies. Senator Nick Xenophon is still pursuing the tax breaks, although he adds that there are other options for increasing media diversity and job opportunities for journalists.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Team X keeps tax aid on agenda

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 4-Sep-17

Independent senator Nick Xenophon remains optimistic that his party can secure a deal with the Federal Government regarding cross-media ownership reforms. However, he stresses that any deal would be conditional on the Government agreeing to provide tax breaks for smaller media outlets. The Nick Xenophon Team’s initial proposal for tax breaks was rejected by the Government, which requires the support of 10 Senate crossbenchers for its media reform bill.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

NXT considers further media compromise

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 6 : 30-Aug-17

The Federal Government requires the support of 10 crossbench senators for its cross-media ownership reforms when Parliament resumes in early September. There are indications that the Nick Xenophon Team may be prepared to accept a compromise on its proposed tax break for smaller media companies in return for supporting the reforms. The Australian Labor Party has not changed its stance on opposing the abolition of the "two-out-of-three" rule.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION

Ten’s fate hinges on reform of media law

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 25-Aug-17

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has ruled that the acquisition of Ten Network by Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon would not result in a substantial lessening of competition. The ACCC took into account factors such as the growing use of streaming video-on-demand services and competition from rival free-to-air networks. However, Murdoch and Gordon cannot acquire Ten without cross-media ownership law reforms, although one option may be for them to each have a low voting stake in Ten but a high economic interest in the network.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, PPB ADVISORY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Senate deadlock hits Ten’s rescue hopes

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Original article by David Crowe, Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 18-Aug-17

Cross-media ownership reforms are in doubt after the Federal Government rejected a proposal by Senator Nick Xenophon to provide tax incentives for small media companies. The tax offset would have been available for the Australian editions of foreign publications such as "The Guardian", which Communications Minister Mitch Fifield says is inappropriate. The stalled media reform bill will effectively prevent most Australian media companies from bidding for the Ten Network. The deadline to submit bids is 18 August.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL GROUP LLC, SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, PPB ADVISORY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Xenophon deal on media rules within reach

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Aug-17

The Australian Government is expected to put its media reform bill to the Senate in its current form in order to secure the support of the Nick Xenophon Team. The minor party opposes the Government’s deal with One Nation to impose new obligations on the ABC and SBS, and these amendments are likely to be put on hold due to lack of sufficient support in the upper house. The Government is also said to be assessing the cost of proposals put forward by Senator Nick Xenophon in return for supporting the media reforms.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Hanson deal on media laws

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Darren Davidson, Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 3 : 16-Aug-17

The Federal Government has agreed to a number of concessions to secure One Nation’s support for its cross-media ownership reforms in the Senate. Amongst other things, the ABC and SBS will be required to disclose the salaries of their highest-paid staff, while the ABC Act will be amended to include the requirement that the public broadcaster’s news coverage is "fair and balanced". The support of the Nick Xenophon Team for the media bill will be crucial, given that the Greens have rejected the One Nation reforms.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

TV networks face slug for local content fund

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 15-Aug-17

The Australian Government is continuing to hold talks with Senate crossbenchers regarding its cross-media reform bill, which is slated to be debated on 15 August. The Greens remain open to negotiation, and the party has proposed that TV networks should be required to contribute to a "local content fund". This was a key recommendation of the Convergence Review in 2012. The Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young has also advocated an increase in funding for the ABC and SBS, while One Nation wants their funding to be reduced.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION