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Channel Ten: Senators 'with rocks in their heads' urged to change media laws

Eryk Bagshaw
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Labor and independent senators are facing calls to abandon their opposition to media ownership reforms after Channel Ten fell into voluntary administration on Wednesday. 

It is understood crucial members of the Senate crossbench are reassessing their position after the country's third-largest TV network moved into insolvency. 

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Channel Ten: Fifield seeking media reform

Minister of Communications and Arts, Mitch Fifield says the government is seeking media reform in wake off Ten networks fall into administration. The changes include reforms to media ownership and licensing fees.

KordaMentha were appointed as voluntary administrators on Wednesday morning after billionaire backers Lachlan Murdoch, Bruce Gordon and James Packer walked away from guaranteeing a new $250 million loan to rescue the 53-year-old TV station. 

The ailing network could have been saved if changes to the laws had not been caught in Senate gridlock, potentially allowing for a takeover by Mr Murdoch's News Corp or for an increased ownership share for Mr Gordon, the mogul behind WIN TV.  

Under the 1980s-era regulations, Mr Gordon is prohibited from extending his 15 per cent stake in Ten through a reach rule that prevents him from broadcasting to more than 75 per cent of the television market.

Mr Murdoch is blocked from increasing his stake by the two-out-of-three laws that prevent organisations from owning radio, television and newspapers.

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The fate of the laws now rests with the Senate crossbench, including four One Nation Senators and the Nick Xenophon team. 

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has declared she has no sympathy for the commercial network but her party is still wrestling internally with their position. A cut to ABC funding is one of her key demands for moving the legislation forward, a request that has been dismissed by the Turnbull government.  

"Channel Ten's lack of profitability isn't a result of the government's two-out-of-three rule, it's largely due to poor programming and poor management," she said in a statement. 

"I share the same level of sympathy for Network Ten as I do for the other 260,000 Australian businesses who closed their doors, went bankrupt or simply shut down in the last financial year." 

Other One Nation senators are "reassessing" their views in light of the network's move into administration.

It is understood One Nation Senator Brian Burston received a briefing from the government on Tuesday and is now reflecting on his position. 

A spokesman for One Nation Senator Peter Georgiou said the senator would "take stock" of developments at Channel Ten. 

"We have to reassess the situation," he said. "Once we have more details and we can appreciate the landscape and we will be able to see what impact the voluntary administration has on the laws." 

If the One Nation vote splits and three of the four senators are pushed over the line by Mr Fifield, the government would only need three votes to hit the 39 required to pass the legislation. 

Senator Stirling Griff said the Nick Xenophon team's three senators had now given their in-principle support to the changes, secured after the government included the abolition of TV licence fees in the bill.

He called on the government to go further by securing more opportunities for new and emerging media and cracking down on Google and Facebook cannibalising advertising dollars. 

Labor is strongly opposed to axing the two-out-of-three rule, citing concerns over media concentration despite a unanimous push for change from every major media organisation.

"Removal of the two-out-of-three rule will achieve very little for industry at potentially great cost to our democracy," Labor's communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland said in May. 

"There is no compelling evidence that removal of the two-out-of-three rule will improve the competitiveness of the sector, but there is a significant risk that it will reduce media diversity."

It is understood Ms Rowland's position has not changed in the immediate aftermath of Ten's announcement on Wednesday. 

Communication's Minister Mitch Fifield lashed out as Labor for having "a callous disregard for the impact of their actions on an industry that desperately needs reform." 

He called on Labor leader Bill Shorten to abandon his opposition to the changes and all but ruled out splitting the bill when it is tabled in Parliament tomorrow. 

Independent Senator Derryn Hinch urged Labor and the other crossbenchers to support the government.  

"If any Senator doesn't see this as a clarion call for an overhaul of our antiquated media laws they've got rocks in their heads," he told Fairfax Media. 

"As a former Channel Ten host, a journo and an avid television watcher, I am saddened by this development. It just shows the parlous conditions for free-to-air TV, radio and our struggling newspapers." 

A statement from KordaMentha said during the period of administration operations would continue "as much as possible on a business-as-usual basis". 

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