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September 13th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says plans for a media inquiry are an attempt to intimidate the industry.
LABOR’S media inquiry will test whether the nation’s regulators have adequate power to protect citizens’ privacy from media intrusion and properly handle complaints about news organisations.
But Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told Labor MPs the inquiry, unveiled yesterday, would not target individual media companies nor be skewed to shield politicians from scrutiny.
The inquiry – called amid claims by some government figures of bias against Labor, and in the wake of telephone hacking by media organisations in Britain – will examine the powers of the Australian Press Council and the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Full details of the parliamentary inquiry, including the terms of reference, are still being finalised. It is expected the inquiry will determine whether the industry-funded press council has enough clout to regulate the major newspaper publishers, and whether ACMA, which is a statutory body regulating the broadcasting sector, should be given a wider remit to cover the press. The probe could consider the introduction of a formal process to deal with complaints made against newspapers.
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But sources said the government had rejected demands by the Greens that the inquiry examine media proprietor Rupert Murdoch’s level of ownership of Australian newspapers.
The move came less than a week after Julia Gillard angered Greens leader Bob Brown by rejecting his demand for onshore processing of asylum-seekers. The Greens began pushing for a media inquiry in July when Mr Murdoch closed the British tabloid News of the World after it was found to have used telephone hacking to obtain stories. Mr Murdoch owns the News Limited stable of newspapers, including The Australian.
At the time, the Prime Minister said the events in Britain posed “hard questions” for News Limited newspapers, while Senator Brown demanded an inquiry to consider the creation of a “fit and proper person” test for media proprietors and to examine the concentration of media ownership, given the “domination” of News Limited.
Senator Brown’s proposals reflected many of the Greens’ media policies, which focus on regulation to deliver greater diversity in media ownership, including by allowing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to force media companies to divest themselves of assets if they fail a public interest test.
Despite attacks on News Limited from the Sydney MP John Murphy and NSW senator Doug Cameron, Senator Conroy told caucus there was no need for an inquiry to establish the level of News Limited’s ownership of Australian media assets or to seek to prove some outlets were biased.
A government spokesman said Senator Conroy had told colleagues he rejected the Greens’ proposals and believed it was important the inquiry “not be an attack on News Limited and not be about politicians”.
Senator Conroy, who has accused sections of News Limited of campaigning for “regime change” to remove the government, told caucus there were legitimate concerns about the protection of individual privacy and the powers of regulators such as the APC.
The spokesman said Senator Conroy indicated ownership concentration was “not a motivating factor” in the inquiry, although the terms of reference were still being finalised. “It won’t be a let’s-get-News-Limited inquiry,” the spokesman said.
At the meeting, another Sydney MP, Ed Husic, said there was no evidence of telephone hacking in Australia. Reflecting Senator Conroy’s position, Mr Husic proposed the inquiry examine the powers of existing regulators.
Senator Cameron said Mr Murdoch’s level of ownership of the Australian media had implications for democracy, while Mr Murphy told colleagues he had long campaigned against News Limited’s print media dominance, and believed the inquiry should examine the need for greater competition. He told caucus News Limited’s media assets should be broken up to reduce its influence.
Senator Brown said later he was continuing talks with the government and believed the need for “an independent umpire” should be assessed as part of the inquiry.
“A robust inquiry which can promote media diversity and ensure the public’s recourse when wrong behaviour occurs would serve Australia well,” he said.
Tony Abbott rejected the need for an inquiry, saying he suspected the government wanted to use it to intimidate the media. “There is no evidence of any significant new problems with the media in Australia.”
He said the government should not blame the media for its political difficulties.
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