Summary

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The majority agreed with the bill's main idea (in parliamentary jargon, they agreed to read the bill for a second time). This means that the House can now discuss the bill in more detail.

Main idea of the bill

The bill will introduce new laws relating to cross media ownership and foreign media ownership. Specifically, it will permit cross-media mergers in radio licence areas where sufficient diversity of media groups remains following the merger and remove media-specific restrictions on foreign ownership and control.

The bill states that there is sufficient diversity of media groups if there are at least five separate media groups in mainland State capitals and at least four groups in other licence areas following any merger activity.

What are cross media ownership laws?

Under the current law, a person can't control two types of media (including TV, radio and newspaper media) within the same licence area. For example, one person can't control a commercial television broadcasting licence and a commercial radio broadcasting licence within a particular area. Nor can they control a commercial radio broadcasting licence and a newspaper associated with the area.

A person is considered to be in control of the particular type of media if they have interests in the company greater than 15%.

What are foreign media ownership laws?

There are currently several controls on foreign ownership of Australian media. For example, there are strict limits on the degree of total foreign interest in newspaper ownership as well as a set limit on the interest of any single foreign shareholder.

Background to the bill

Since it was elected in 1996, the Coalition Government has made its interest in amending Australia's media ownership laws clear. It has asked the advice of the Productivity Commission and previously introduced the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill 2002 and the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill 2002 (No 2), but neither were passed.

The Government restated its commitment to amend these media ownership laws during the 2004 election, in which it was re-elected.

Read more about the background to the bill in its bills digest.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Labor Party (86% turnout) 0 Yes 51 No
Dick Adams Lyons No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler No
Kim Beazley Brand No
Arch Bevis Brisbane No
Sharon Bird Cunningham No
Chris Bowen Prospect No
Anna Burke Chisholm No
Tony Burke Watson No
Anthony Byrne Holt No
Ann Corcoran Isaacs No
Simon Crean Hotham No
Michael Danby Melbourne Ports No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Annette Ellis Canberra No
Kate Ellis Adelaide No
Craig Emerson Rankin No
Martin Ferguson Batman No
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter No
Peter Garrett Kingsford Smith No
Steve Georganas Hindmarsh No
Jennie George Throsby No
Steve Gibbons Bendigo No
Sharon Grierson Newcastle No
Alan Griffin Bruce No
Jill Hall Shortland No
Michael Hatton Blaxland No
Chris Hayes Werriwa No
Kelly Hoare Charlton No
Julia Irwin Fowler No
Harry Jenkins Scullin No
Catherine King Ballarat No
Carmen Lawrence Fremantle No
Kirsten Livermore Capricornia No
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga No
Robert McClelland Barton No
Bob McMullan Fraser No
Daryl Melham Banks No
John Murphy Lowe No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Gavan O'Connor Corio No
Julie Owens Parramatta No
Tanya Plibersek Sydney No
Roger Price Chifley No
Bernie Ripoll Oxley No
Rod Sawford Port Adelaide No
Bob Sercombe Maribyrnong No
Stephen Smith Perth No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Kelvin Thomson Wills No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Kim Wilkie Swan No
Graham Edwards Cowan Absent
Laurie Ferguson Reid Absent
Julia Gillard Lalor Absent
Duncan Kerr Denison Absent
Nicola Roxon Gellibrand Absent
Kevin Rudd Griffith Absent
Wayne Swan Lilley Absent
Lindsay Tanner Melbourne Absent
Dave Tollner Solomon Country Liberal Party Yes
Ian Causley Page Deputy Speaker Yes
Peter Andren Calare Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Independent No
Harry Quick Franklin Independent No
Tony Windsor New England Independent No
Liberal Party (90% turnout) 66 Yes 0 No
Tony Abbott Warringah Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Yes
Fran Bailey McEwen Yes
Mark Baker Braddon Yes
Bob Baldwin Paterson Yes
Phillip Barresi Deakin Yes
Kerry Bartlett Macquarie Yes
Bruce Billson Dunkley Yes
Bronwyn Bishop Mackellar Yes
Julie Bishop Curtin Yes
Russell Broadbent McMillan Yes
Mal Brough Longman Yes
Alan Cadman Mitchell Yes
Steven Ciobo Moncrieff Yes
Alexander Downer Mayo Yes
Trish Draper Makin Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Kay Elson Forde Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Pat Farmer Macarthur Yes
David Fawcett Wakefield Yes
Michael Ferguson Bass Yes
Teresa Gambaro Petrie Yes
Joanna Gash Gilmore Yes
Petro Georgiou Kooyong Yes
Barry Haase Kalgoorlie Yes
Gary Hardgrave Moreton Yes
Stuart Henry Hasluck Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Dennis Jensen Tangney Yes
Michael Johnson Ryan Yes
David Jull Fadden Yes
Michael Keenan Stirling Yes
Jackie Kelly Lindsay Yes
Andrew Laming Bowman Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Peter Lindsay Herbert Yes
Jim Lloyd Robertson Yes
Ian Macfarlane Groom Yes
Louise Markus Greenway Yes
Margaret May McPherson Yes
Stewart McArthur Corangamite Yes
Sophie Mirabella Indi Yes
Gary Nairn Eden-Monaro Yes
Brendan Nelson Bradfield Yes
Chris Pearce Aston Yes
Geoff Prosser Forrest Yes
Christopher Pyne Sturt Yes
Don Randall Canning Yes
Kym Richardson Kingston Yes
Andrew Robb Goldstein Yes
Philip Ruddock Berowra Yes
Alby Schultz Hume Yes
Patrick Secker Barker Yes
Peter Slipper Fisher Yes
Tony Smith Casey Yes
Andrew Southcott Boothby Yes
Sharman Stone Murray Yes
Cameron Thompson Blair Yes
Ken Ticehurst Dobell Yes
Wilson Tuckey O'Connor Yes
Danna Vale Hughes Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Barry Wakelin Grey Yes
Mal Washer Moore Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Bruce Baird Cook Absent
Peter Costello Higgins Absent
Joe Hockey North Sydney Absent
John Howard Bennelong Absent
Judi Moylan Pearce Absent
Alex Somlyay Fairfax Absent
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth Absent
National Party (82% turnout) 9 Yes 0 No
John Anderson Gwydir Yes
John Forrest Mallee Yes
Luke Hartsuyker Cowper Yes
De-Anne Kelly Dawson Yes
Peter McGauran Gippsland Yes
Paul Neville Hinkler Yes
Bruce Scott Maranoa Yes
Warren Truss Wide Bay Yes
Mark Vaile Lyne Yes
John Cobb Parkes Absent
Kay Hull Riverina Absent
David Hawker Wannon Speaker Absent
Totals (88% turnout) 77 Yes – 55 No