Ten Network CEO Paul Anderson.
Ten Network Holdings welcomed the re-introduction of the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Media Reform) Bill today and called on the Parliament to pass the bill as a matter of urgency.
Ten Network CEO Paul Anderson said the Parliament had "a simple choice: get behind the Australian media companies that are investing in local content and local jobs and give us a fair chance to compete, or continue to give our big tech competitors a free ride by strangling local media companies.
“The only way to ensure media diversity in Australia is to have strong, viable local media companies and the existing rules are a real threat to that. The foreign-owned tech companies have demonstrated that they are not interested in any meaningful investment in local content or local news, so we need our local voices to remain strong.
“In order to compete, local media companies need to grow, transform and leverage content across multiple platforms, and the current laws – combined with the onerous tax of the world’s highest television licence fees – are arbitrarily stopping us from doing that,” he said.
“By holding us back, these rules are giving the foreign tech giants a major competitive advantage and that is on top of arrangements that mean they pay minimal tax on revenue earned in Australia.
“We are yet to hear any rational argument in favour of keeping the two out of three rule, which only applies to three offline media platforms and doesn’t even recognise the existence of the internet. It is illogical and antiquated and threatens local diversity by constraining Australian media companies in our efforts to grow and compete.
“We are disappointed that we now face another extended 10-week inquiry into the Bill. After years of debate and discussion we urgently need the Parliament to get behind local voices and give us fairer rules and certainty around the regulatory framework. The existing media rules have to go, and quickly.”