Communications minister Mitch Fifield has come under renewed pressure to explain why Foxtel – and not a free-to-air network or public broadcaster – was given millions of dollars to boost coverage of women's and niche sports.
The broadcaster was assigned $30 million in taxpayer's money over four years in the 2017 federal budget in order to boost "under represented sports" on subscription television.
On Wednesday, the ABC revealed an FOI request into how Foxtel was chosen for government funding was rejected on the basis that a paper trail between the Department of Communications and the pay TV network did not exist.
A spokeswoman for Mr Fifield said the decision to give money to Foxtel was part of the Turnbull government's broader media reform package.
"The department's FOI process is independent of the minister," she said.
Labor is opposed to the Turnbull government's media reforms and the package has yet to pass the Senate. Foxtel's funding was able to sail through the upper house because it was bundled into the government's appropriation bills.
Despite this, Foxtel has yet to receive the first instalment of the $30 million and decide how the funding will be spent.
The government handout raised eyebrows in the television industry earlier this year. The Seven Network, for example, did not receive any government support to broadcast the inaugural season of the AFL Women's League.
But Seven's managing director, Lewis Martin, defended the government's decision.
"Seven West Media welcomes government support in funding broadcast, particularly for niche sports that need time to build their audiences," he said. "[But] free to air coverage is the life source of any sport."
The Opposition's communications minister Michelle Rowland, meanwhile, said it was concerning there was an apparent lack of documents behind the funding decision.
"It is clear that this [broader media reform] package is not based on evidence, has little substance, and contains no real vision for the future of Australian media," she said. "The Australian media industry has been waiting over four years for meaningful reform, but all Mitch Fifield is capable of is poorly planned political deals and trade-offs."
Mr Fifield defended the decision to award Foxtel $30 million while being grilled at Senate estimates back in May.
At the time, he said Foxtel broadcast 70 per cent of all women's sport shown on Australian TV. However, he did concede that more people had access to free-to-air than pay television.
A Foxtel spokesman refused to comment.
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