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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-06-23 Daily Xml
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Motions

Regional Media

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (11:30): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises the importance of independent media platforms as both the voice for regional communities and a trusted information source;

(b) provides financial assistance to help support both new and established platforms to continue to serve their communities;

(c) recognises that print is a vital information source for regional people; and

(d) commits to an annual spend for communication in regional communities.

The importance of print media to regional areas cannot be underestimated. For regional communities, they are a source of information, a journal of record, a regular publication where you find accurate and balanced news in the public interest. For many people, it is the only place where you find out government news and how it will affect you and your family.

There has recently been a push to modernise the advertising of government news and public notices online and reduce the commitment to advertising in regional print publications. The simplify bill was just one example of this. It was a bill that was introduced by this Liberal government. I spoke extensively against that bill, but it was passed. Now we see another bill introduced, the Statutes Amendment (Local Government Review) Bill, which seeks to do exactly the same as the simplify bill.

For example, in four amendments, the requirement for the notice or alteration in a newspaper has been removed and substituted with the council merely giving public notice. If we are serious about this, not many people are visiting local council websites on a regular basis, keeping up to date with all of the notices in their local area, yet most in the regions will buy or read a local newspaper where that information is presented.

Regional print remains strong. The readership of The SE Voice, one of our papers, is 18,000 people, and 15,500 copies of Lifestyle1 are distributed across Limestone Coast and south-west Victoria each week. Of course, we have The Border Watch, which is a paper that has been going strong for over 160 years. These are vital places where our community remains informed and up to date, particularly with government notices and information.

It is also true that regional papers depend on advertising. When I am sitting down talking to my local papers, they clearly indicate to me that the cost of purchasing a paper barely covers, if it indeed does cover, the print cost and distribution. Advertising is a very important part of a newspaper's viability. Viability is an easy word, but what we are talking about here are jobs—jobs in regional areas that contribute not only directly to the printing of the paper but of course to the distribution and every other aspect that goes along with it.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Victorian government—sometimes I think I live in a parallel universe—committed to a minimum advertising spend in regional papers. I believe this spend was $4.7 million, and it gave certainty to those papers and also helped contribute to the jobs that underpin the industry. Most importantly, it was getting the government's message about the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps the government was taking out to the readership. This continued for a further six months beyond the initial term and they have now, just recently, committed to a half page per week for a further 12 months.

That is a Victorian Labor government supporting regional papers with a guaranteed commitment to underpin the viability of that industry. This action demonstrates a proactive relationship between the Victorian government communications team and their regional media outlets. It also demonstrates a commitment to regional people, and an understanding of how print continues to be a vital source of information for regional audiences.

However, it seems that our state government's relationship with regional papers, as expressed to me by some in the media, is one-sided. What I mean by that is that media releases are pushed out by government ministers—quite rightly so—and these papers give serious consideration and almost always print and give prominent space to the message being distributed to regional audiences.

When a minister or senior politician comes down to regional areas, regional media show up, take photographs and attend press conferences, all of this without paid advertising going along with it—not that they are complaining about that service. It is a longstanding expectation and agreement between both sides because it is newsworthy. However, what I am calling for is a commitment to an annual spend for communication in regional communities to help underpin this very important industry.

Like any other industry impacted by the pandemic, regional print deserves economic support measures to ensure its longevity. A regional newspaper supports far more than just journalists and sales staff. It has a trickle-down effect to delivery drivers, stockists, fuel companies, newsagents and many, many more. Combined, Lifestyle1, The Border Watch and The SE Voice support around 25 full-time jobs and many more part-time and casual roles.

It is in the best interests of the state government, no matter of which persuasion, to ensure the survival of print media or we will lose a valuable information service for our regional people. People consume information in very different ways, and any government's communication plan should always include a variety of platforms, including online, radio, print and social, to reach these audiences.

As has been said in recent legislation and in legislation coming up, there are moves to push the publishing of public notices online, to skip the requirement to publish in newspapers entirely. This is often referred to as 'modernising community consultation', and giving governments and councils more flexibility in the way they communicate with the community.

In regional South Australia, print continues to be a vital source of information. The last year has been a perfect example of why traditional media is incredibly important to provide accurate and balanced reporting on issues in the public interest. Misinformation is rife on social media platforms, which do not fact-check and allow public commentary. Unbelievably, a politician's Facebook page is not where most of Mount Gambier finds out government news that affects them.

This government proudly displays the motto Regions Matter. The communication budget is already there, and I am asking this state government to commit to an advertising spend in regional areas so that our regional papers can plan, with some degree of certainty, a future budget that includes their full-time equivalents, and it would give some certainty and some support to a vital industry in our regions.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (11:40): I am pleased to rise today to speak to the motion put to the house by the member for Mount Gambier in relation to regional media. As a member for a regional electorate that sits adjacent to that of the member for Mount Gambier, I understand and appreciate the importance of independent media, and in particular print media, in our communities.

My electorate and the member for Mount Gambier's electorate share several providers of independent media that deliver news across the Limestone Coast. The delivery of the news by independent media platforms is fundamental to ensure that our communities are informed and engaged. It is a foundation upon which our democracy is able to effectively function. It enables us as state representatives of our communities in government to be questioned and held to account for our actions, policies and advocacy efforts.

Local independent media platforms also connect people to each other, to the decisions of our federal and local governments, our businesses, our sporting groups, our social groups, our networks, our public services and, importantly, to the issues that affect people's daily lives. The media helps us to share our celebrations and achievements and share our sorrows. It helps us to signal our rituals, like funerals and memorial services, and highlights life events, including marriages and milestone celebrations.

The Limestone Coast has what I believe is an enviable rich combination of independent print, electronic and radio outlets that deliver national, state and local news and entertainment. At the risk of missing some, I know my constituents appreciate the opportunity to read or listen to a range of publications and outlets that have both a local and an increasingly regional outlook on news. These include The Border Watch, which covers Mount Gambier and surrounds; in Naracoorte, The News covers Naracoorte and further regions; the Border Chronicle is Bordertown's rural press; the Naracoorte Herald is Naracoorte's rural press and covers other areas as well; the Stock Journal is really a statewide regional agricultural paper; The SE Voice covers Mount Gambier and districts; and the East Coastal Leader covers the news of the Kingston district and also Robe.

To the north of the MacKillop electorate, there are The Murray Pioneer and The Murray Valley Standard publications that continue to provide local news for the townships of the River Murray and Murray Mallee. Radio coverage includes both ABC South East SA, Triple M in the South East, Flow FM and community radio stations like 5tcbFM, based in Bordertown, and 5TheFM, based in Millicent.

The shutdown of local and regional print media in the Limestone Coast in the mid-2020s, associated with COVID-19, was a time that left a vacuum for local news. It was a time that brought a focus on the need for print media in particular. It was an absence that our community felt deeply and added to the uncertainty felt by many who were experiencing income loss, business closure and disruption to their lives. It was unprecedented.

Thankfully, though, it was a time when a number of individuals rose to the challenge and moved to establish new print media publications. This bucked a reported broader trend away from print media. New publications to emerge in the Limestone Coast included TheSE Voice and the Naracoorte Community News. The establishment of these publications has been embraced by the community and local businesses, who have rewarded the commitment to deliver news with their support through purchasing papers, ongoing subscriptions and advertising.

Subsequently, there was the return of Australian Community Media publications, including the Naracoorte Herald and the Border Chronicle, and the Coastal Leader has also been welcomed back. I am a firm believer that our government and our government departments need to seek to continue to engage through advertising with regional independent print media. Our state and democracy would be much weaker for the neglect of our regional publications to communicate news, post public statutory notices and flag community engagement initiatives. The print media is a long-established and trusted source of information for our regional communities. If we are to meaningfully engage with our communities, we need to use all media formats to communicate information and share our stories.

Even as our media landscape continues to seek to adapt to the delivery of digital news that can be accessed freely by anyone with a smart phone, the importance of print media in our regional communities is without question in my mind. This brings me to the sorts of topics that we now see the print media covers, and always has covered, and how important they are. Print media and local radio stations are often in our council chambers during council meetings, taking notes and minutes, bringing to the attention of the community all the discussions and perhaps even bringing another perspective, another a view, to the council via the media.

It is an ingrained and established type of process that I have seen right throughout my career, not only in my short career in politics but also right through my career in agriculture and on the farm, when print media send out messages, discussions and information about those who move certain motions through council, making us aware of all that is going on. It is very much appreciated that they spend time in council chambers highlighting these issues. If there is a problem, the community can then go to the council, councillors and the mayor to raise these issues once they have been raised through the media outlets. If the media is not there, this sort of connection is lost.

Another thing that I see—and know that the communities are very much engaged with our print media, perhaps radio stations as well—is the recording and photographing of sporting events. When I was young, 40-odd years ago, to see any photo of me in the paper at junior colts football or a sporting event, just like all young people, was a highlight of the damned week let alone the year. A lot grandparents would come up to me and others and say, 'I saw you in the paper. You were out playing football.' This is how the community works. This is why they buy the paper.

Today, those grandparents are still out there. They are not engaged with Facebook or other social media outlets; some of them are well versed, others mostly are not. The print media brings that sort of news across our region right into family homes and to the aged-care centres, wherever the aged may be. I know they really appreciate it. They feel like they still belong. They can still watch their grandchildren and see them in the papers and know what is going on through print media, and it is not lost.

Papers and print media have done and will continue to do a terrific job covering and publishing regional and rural events such as agricultural field days, best technologies, grassland conferences and field days, such as the South-East field days. They cover them like nothing else, with lots and lots of photos, highlighting that there were 20,000 people on one day and 25,000 on the Saturday—those sorts of things that emphasise just how big and important these events are to our regions.

Then there are times of adversity, such as Ash Wednesday and other major fires like the Keilira fire and the Blackford-Avenue fire, that are covered media, with photos highlighting the damage, those who suffered, how we are moving forward, where the social engagements will take place to look after and care for people and how people can help once these events have taken place. They also notified that BlazeAid was in the area; it was well covered by our media. People in the local area, locals, then turned up at BlazeAid to help other locals. Without the media covering these types of events, showing the way it all works, I can tell you that the message would get only halfway across if we relied only on television, for example, or we used social media outlets.

I really do support this process. I hope our government can do all it possibly can to support our regional media. We represent only 400,000 people in the state. There are over a million people in the city, with city papers. We are just as important. We do not have the majority of figures and numbers to advocate, but we are diverse, we are spread over huge distances and we are just as important and need to be looked after. We need messages put out there, bringing our communities together and making our communities stronger. Resilience will be that much better for regional media. I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (11:49): I would like to make a contribution to this debate and support the motion and acknowledge the important role that local media plays in our communities. I have spoken on this matter before and I only wish to add to what has already been said. The two previous speakers covered the field very well. While it was good to hear the member for MacKillop speak in support of this motion, it was disappointing that he also voted for those changes to laws that take income away from local media because it does not require government demand to do so. On the one hand, I appreciate the fact you are speaking in support, which I think—

Mr Whetstone: It sounds like fake news.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: No, he is acknowledging it. He is actually acknowledging it, unlike you—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Light, could you take a seat for a moment. Order in the chamber, please! I would remind the member for Light that he has just been reflecting on the vote of a house.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: I was reflecting on the vote of an individual member, Mr Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It was the vote of an individual member, but it was a bill before the house. Continue without referring to or reflecting on the vote of a house.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: It is unfortunate that the laws as they now stand do not support this motion, which is sad; however, this motion is worthy of support. Unfortunately, our local media has been taken for granted and not really appreciated or supported by successive governments. It is good to see, though, that industry is now fighting back to make sure that it does survive.

I refer to some new research that has been undertaken with the support of Country Press Australia. Deakin University are doing a major research project into country papers, particularly print media. The first part of this research is based on a survey, the 'Local newspaper audience survey national report 2021', which is part of the 'Media innovation and the civic future of Australia's country press' project. This research is very important because it does two things: firstly, it will talk about what people's expectations are from local media in their country and regional communities and, secondly, what people think needs to be done to make sure we have a sustainable country press in Australia.

I will quote from the report, and this quote covers very well what I think is the importance of country press:

When practised well, country journalism informs, educates and entertains a public that is often marginalised in favour of their big-city counterparts. It contributes to a functioning local democracy and public sphere, creates a shared sense of community, and fulfills a watchdog role by providing a check and balance on institutions such as local government, courts, churches, schools and police.

That quote from the report covers very well what I think country media does and the role country media plays. In addition to print media, we also have country radio stations, both community and for-profit. In terms of print media, my own area is covered by the Plains Producer at Balaklava, The Bunyip at Gawler and The Leader, which is based in Angaston. I think we still have the Barossa and Light Herald, which is part of Australia country media, but it is only published occasionally online. Certainly, the print media version has not been available for some time. We also have community radio BBB FM based in Nuriootpa.

As part of this research that was undertaken, there was a survey of 4,200 local newspaper readers from semirural or peri-urban regional and country South Australia. They made a number of findings, but I think a couple of the findings were very important and instructive. One is as follows:

Audiences believe local newspapers should be collaboratively funded by a range of relevant stakeholders to ensure their future.

It is interesting that our community believes that The Advertiser has a role to play, readers have a role to play and newspaper owners have a role to play, but also that governments have a role to play to ensure that local media does survive.

That role is the role of perhaps providing advertising dollars. As a number of country press operators have said, the governments of the day are more than happy to have local newspapers print their media releases and, when they come out, as the member for MacKillop said, to cover their media events and take photographs, etc., but when it comes to actually ensuring that the paper is there for the next week and the week after and the week after that, they are now no longer prepared to put the money as advertising dollars in. It is important because of all the functions that the country press plays.

It is interesting, also, what the audience of this survey said. They overwhelmingly indicated that additional funding for local news should be directed to employ more local journalists to report news rather than to increase digital connectivity and digital innovations. In other words, people said they still had a strong preference for print media over digital media. The reality is that a lot of people cannot actually access digital media.

It is clear from the research that has been undertaken that people in country areas and regional areas appreciate and value their country papers. The reality is that for newspapers right across the country—not only those in local areas but also metropolitan papers—the advertising dollar is getting harder and harder to come by, and they are finding it harder to survive.

As a parliament, we need to make sure that we protect our local democracies, make sure that governments of the day do provide support to our local newspapers to make sure they are able to do all the things they do. When I undertake some research about my own community relating to 50, 100 or 150 years ago, where do I go? I go to my local papers to see what is the history of an event and what happened in those days and at those times.

They actually are important journals of record not only for political or local government news but in terms of all those other things that are important to local communities: school events, church events, births, deaths and marriages—all those things that are important to local communities. Local newspapers help keep our communities connected and importantly keep all of us accountable. With those few comments, I would certainly support the motion. Without reflecting on a previous decision of this parliament, I draw members' attention to the fact that we need to do more.

We need to do more and we can do more to ensure that our country papers stay in print. I think it would be a sad day if we lost our country papers. Sadly, we have actually lost about 200 papers across the nation over the last year or so. Most of those were owned by the Murdoch press and other big media outlets, but in my own town of Gawler we did lose The Bunyip for two weeks. It was only two weeks, but there was a sense of great loss, and fortunately community action did bring the paper back after only two weeks. However, some papers have disappeared not to return, and those communities are the poorer for that. I certainly support the motion.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:57): I rise to support the member for Mount Gambier's motion because it is an important motion. It is important for a number of reasons. We here in this place, and particularly regional MPs, rely on a balanced set of voices that come into our newspapers, and those voices are critically important not only for state governments, federal governments, local governments and organisations in terms of having their voice heard and having their voice put out there, but also for sharing messages and about sharing information in our communities.

In regional South Australia, we are in some way isolated, away from some of the mainstream media, and to have a voice, to be heard in the regions, is critically important. It is critically important for that train of voices to be heard right across different areas so that we can actually understand what is going in our neighbours' towns and districts and also to let the locals know exactly what is happening in their backyard.

Just recently we have been through the pandemic and many of our regional newspapers became almost unviable. We know that advertising is the bread and butter that keeps the lights on, the bills paid and the presses continuing to churn out those papers. The great work of the commonwealth government, particularly with JobKeeper, has seen those papers supported and they have survived. Now that we are getting a level of normality back into our local economies, those papers are starting to see the light of day.

In the electorate of Chaffey, an electorate of around 24,000 square kilometres, that news platform is an important part of the fabric of isolated regional communities, and keeping people informed of local events is critically important. It also holds some of the institutions to account—for example, the three levels of government—because people need to have a voice. Not only does it inform the readers but it also gives a bit of balance.

We know that good, balanced journalism is critically important for democracy and it is critically important for both sides of the story. We, here in this place, know that there are always two sides to a story and we like to think that our side of the story is the correct side. It gives people the opportunity to be a part of that conversation.

In Chaffey, we have one Riverland-centric newspaper and six newspapers that are circulated throughout the region. Through the impacts of COVID, TheMurray Pioneer has now been wound back to one distribution per week of approximately 22,500 copies. The amalgamation of The River News and The Loxton News has seen them now merge with TheMurray Pioneer. The Border Times in the Southern Mallee continues with great support. The Murray Valley Standard, a very good paper, publishes some of the Mallee content in the member for Hammond's electorate. In the Barossa there is The Leader, which publishes into the lower river area of Swan Reach and surrounding areas.

We also rely on radio. The radio waves speak loud and clear in the Riverland. We have 1062 ABC Riverland, Magic 93.1 and 5RM, which are longstanding radio communication and media in the Riverland, as are Flow FM and Life FM. Obviously, the role of social media has become incredibly dominant in this modern era and that is putting continued pressure on the viability of our regional newspapers.

We need to understand and accept that we are moving into a modern age and that is where the regional newspapers need to come to the fore. They need to look at new ways of expressing and putting the news out there. As I have said, advertising is critically important to viability. That is why the federal government's $50 million PING program support package for regional media is very important. It continues to support public interest journalism delivered not only by the newspapers but commercial TV and radio. Obviously, that injection of funds, along with JobKeeper, has helped with the impacts of the pandemic.

As I have said, communities in regional areas have faced significant challenges, not just the impacts of COVID but the different challenges and competition in the marketplace, particularly for advertising, and that puts more pressure on our regional newspapers. The Murray Pioneer newspaper has been around for a long time. The Taylor Group has been run by a great Riverland family since 1892. TheMurray Pioneer is an institution and in its current title has been around since 1942.

Local newspapers rely on good, balanced journalism. I think the Country Press Association gives reward for effort. I should mention that a lot of the regional newspapers are the incubators or the budding ground for journalism that is coming in, or journalists, young cadets, coming in. They are looking for rewards. They are looking for recognition so they can go on to greater things. That is why the Country Press Association continues to reward good balanced journalism. It really does give a shot in the arm to those journalists who are there to expand their careers or are there for recognition, just to be good at what they do.

The regional media sources will continue to face the different challenges, the task of providing that high-quality news. As an example, I would like to highlight something. I think The River News at Waikerie played a significant role when the previous government, the previous state Labor government, wanted to close the Cadell ferry. The Cadell ferry plays a critical role for those communities down there but also for a lot of heavy vehicles that come across the river.

The then government did not realise the backlash that they were going to face from the local communities, which was demonstrated in those local newspapers. It was not only demonstrated in The River News, The Loxton News and The Murray Pioneer, but soon gained momentum. It shifted the story out of a regional paper into the metropolitan, into The Advertiser. Even The Australian made mention of a government that failed to consult, failed to recognise the importance of a river-crossing ferry.

Not only did that coverage gain momentum but the decision was quashed and the Labor government backflipped on that decision. It was a great win for a local community, a very small local community that needed some recognition. They needed the light shone on that local issue. These are the sorts of stories and that is the sort of journalism that regional newspapers are renowned for. They are there to fight the good fight for some of those local issues.

They are also there to hold institutions to account. I know that The Murray Pioneer continues to not only give the journalists an opportunity to have their say but also give the readers an opportunity to have their say, with letters to the editor, texts to the editor, opinion pieces and the like. That is why the regional newspapers, the regional media platforms, are so important to living in a regional community.

Regional communities deserve to have that balance. They deserve to have that voice. Whether it is a voice on either side of the argument, it is critically important that our regional newspapers survive. I would like to think that all levels of government will continue to support and advertise in our regional newspapers and not use the digital age. Our regional newspapers are the fabric of a regional community, and that is why I am very supportive of this motion.

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (12:08): I rise also to support this incredibly worthy motion. Over many years, I have been an avid reader of the local papers in my region. One of the sad things I have seen is the decline of the print media in regional South Australia. When I was elected, we had the Roxby Downs Sun, obviously in Roxby Downs, part of the Fairfax rural press empire. That paper, unfortunately, closed in 2015, so a degree of accountability was removed from that community with a non-elected council in Roxby Downs. That was a paper that used to shine the light on the expenditures of that council and represent, to a great degree, the voice of the people in Roxby Downs. That paper has now gone.

When I was elected, the Eyre Peninsula Tribune was still in play. As the Deputy Speaker would know, it was a good little paper. It covered Cleve, Kimba and Cowell. That paper also has now gone. We had the Coober Pedy Regional Times, which used to be in print. It is not a professional paper as such, but Margaret Mackay, the editor and journalist, did a lot of work to keep that paper going. It is still available, but it is only available online now.

We still have the Whyalla News, obviously in Whyalla, that started way back in 1940. It used to be a biweekly and in the sixties it turned into a triweekly. It is now printed just once a week. It was a paper that had an editor and a number of journalists some years back, and what we have seen over the years is a steady decline. There is now just one journalist who works part time and has to cover everything.

I remember the days when I was on the Whyalla City Council. You would always have the media there at the meetings, shining a light on the goings-on of local government. You would have the print media there and you would also have GTS/BKN—Southern Cross these days—turn up. That is largely gone. The Whyalla News still does reasonable local coverage, given the resources available, and Southern Cross also still covers the region, usually trying to do a story for each community each night over a vast area.

We have seen the decline of print media in my part of the world and indeed throughout the nation. As the member for Light said, over 200 papers have closed over recent years in regional communities. We have seen changes in ownership structure. The Roxby Downs Sun was part of that Rural Press and Fairfax. They closed early in 2015. It was the Wilson family who started the Whyalla News and they are still involved with rural media in this state. They owned that paper for many years until it was bought out by Rural Press and Fairfax, which in turn went to the wall and then was bought out by Australian Community Media.

It is incredibly important that we retain print media in regional communities because it is an important voice on current affairs. A lot of people read the papers because of the sport, because of the pictures and because of the social goings on. It is an important part of the fabric of regional communities and when they close it is a loss that is very hard to replace.

Social media is not an alternative. Some of the stuff I have seen locally on social media has been an absolute disgrace. There is no filter; there is no responsibility. Some of the stuff that is put out there is so factually inaccurate it is disturbing. In some ways, social media represents a long-term threat to a well-functioning democracy. At least the papers had a responsible filter. They would look at the stories and run with the stuff that actually had some semblance of factuality about it.

To lose the print media in regional communities would leave a real hole, so it is important that government at a local level, at a state level and at the federal level support local print media and put their dollars into advertising. I know in my limited budget I make an effort to put dollars into the local papers that still exist because those papers represent a voice for the community and a way that the community can have reflected back on itself what is going on. Rural print media is incredibly important and deserves all the support we can give it.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:14): I acknowledge this motion by the member for Mount Gambier, Troy Bell:

That this house—

(a) recognises the importance of independent media platforms as both the voice for regional communities and a trusted information source;

(b) provides financial assistance to help support both new and established platforms to continue to serve their communities;

(c) recognises that print is a vital informative source for regional people; and

(d) commits to an annual spend for communication in regional communities.

I note that the Marshall Liberal government recently launched a regional development strategy focused on growing our regional communities and seeking to overcome the challenges our regions face. We recognise that all forms of regional media play important roles in each community they cover and have been valuable news sources for decades.

The member for Mount Gambier I note largely referred to the Statutes Amendment and Repeal (Simplify) Bill 2019, which amongst other things amended 27 acts to add the option of publishing government agency notices online. That change has given government departments the discretion to publish notices online in regional newspapers and newspapers circulating across the state as well as in the Government Gazette. The ability to publish notices in regional and local newspapers does remain available and is certainly utilised by government departments.

Advice we received at the time from our departments indicated minimal negative impact on regional newspapers, and departments certainly continue to advertise in regional newspapers where this is the best medium to reach this audience. I think generally right across the state in regional areas it is the best medium to reach the audience. I note the member for Chaffey said that, given the impact we have seen of COVID-19 on regional media across Australia, the commonwealth government announced initiatives to breathe life back into Australian journalism, including a $50 million fund to support regional news media.

We have seen a hit on print media just by the effluxion of time and progress, to a degree. We have seen online sources of media or information come on board. We certainly see some people—too many people—living their lives online with things like Facebook, which is an interesting way to run your life, but it is how some people choose to do it. You have to have those steady, serious forms of communication that print journalism can bring to communities right across the state.

In regard to print media in the seat of Hammond, we are very well served. We have The Border Times, as mentioned before by the member for Chaffey, a long-running paper in the Mallee centred around issues in Pinnaroo, Lameroo and up towards Peake, with the local Mallee Football League, which obviously also has the town of Murrayville and the surrounding area on the Victorian side that would receive that paper as well. Coming back closer to the centre of Hammond, we have The Murray Valley Standard, which has been in place for many years. When I was growing up, which was a couple of days ago, it was a one-day-a-week paper on a Wednesday, and I always thought it was a pretty good paper. Back in the day it was chock full of information for the local community.

Down the track, and this is quite relevant to what we are talking about today, it went to a two-day-a-week format on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I believe that was mainly based on the ability to capture more advertising spend. It was interesting that some people would not buy Tuesday's paper but would buy Thursday's paper, so it was slightly counterproductive in that way, but in more recent times it has switched back to a one-day-a-week format on a Thursday.

Also serving my community is The Southern Argus, which has recently been modernised, with new ownership introducing colour back to the paper—real modernisation—and it is a fantastic look for TheSouthern Argus coming out of Strathalbyn. The Courier from Mount Barker captures the upper reach of my electorate, up towards Harrogate and the outskirts of Nairne.

We are also serviced by electronic means: we have the ABC in the Riverland, we have other FM stations such as Flow FM based in the Riverland, we have Radio 5MU, which has recently gone onto the FM band with three frequencies, and Power FM is still on there as well coming out of Murray Bridge, so there is a range of media that people can reach out to. I acknowledge Peri Strathearn and his Murray Bridge News, as he went out on this own, doing an online news service.

It is interesting when we talk about things like 'online', as I think that has caused some of the demise of regional papers. As someone—and I am talking about myself—who only switched on his first computer when he was 42 (and I enjoyed that until I had to do it), now the first thing I do in the morning is switch on and download a digital paper, whether it is a regional newspaper or The Advertiser or The Australian. It just goes to show how things have moved on.

I have many friends and there are many people, as has already been indicated, right across the regions who enjoy buying a regional paper so they can have the actual paper in their hands. It is a bit of an experience: it is like reading a book instead of having an audiobook. There will be those traditionalists who will like to read papers forever, and it certainly does make a difference seeing how your kids or grandkids won at footy or whatever else happened. Regional papers give that absolute community coverage of things like community football, netball, bowling, lawn bowls, cricket—whatever is going on—and it is magnificent coverage.

In recent times, we saw the Transcend program from the group that owned papers like The Murray Valley Standard, which was basically a cutback of that paper. The Murray Valley Standard used to print in Murray Bridge and print a swag of other regional papers. Sadly, that printing press has closed down, the paper is printed somewhere else and I believe the block has been sold to Emmett's farm machinery, the John Deere dealer locally. The site will be put to good use, but it is a real pity, as I believe the press was an emergency press to print The Advertiser if the main option for The Advertiser broke down, and I think they had a second option somewhere else.

I commend the motion and long may we keep up advertising in the papers. I certainly see plenty of government advertising in regional papers, including from the government and also from the parliament, whether it be select or standing committees, letting people know about things that committees are looking at, about government jobs and other advertising the government puts in regional papers. I commend the motion.

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (12:24): I would like to acknowledge and thank the member for Mount Gambier for bringing this motion to the house:

That this house—

(a) recognises the importance of independent media platforms as both the voice for regional communities and a trusted information source;

(b) provides financial assistance to help support both new and established platforms to continue to serve their communities;

(c) recognises that print is a vital information source for regional people; and

(d) commits to an annual spend for communication in regional communities.

In a previous role as the head of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, I used to travel around South Australia and the Northern Territory to our regional communities, visiting the regional media—the newspapers, our ABC in regional communities, the television and radio stations—and meet with journalists, photographers and, of course, the management of the papers. It became apparent very soon that the regional media have a significant role to play in their community. It is so important that we do whatever we can to ensure that that role is able to continue.

I know that I was in a committee meeting recently when they were looking at where they were going to advertise an inquiry, and the regional media had been left out. This was of great concern to me, and I requested of the secretariat that regional media be included—and it was.

We have newspapers like The Border Watch in Mount Gambier, Barossa Herald, The Murray Pioneer, Port Lincoln Times, The Bunyip at Gawler, The Times at Victor Harbor, Northern Argus, The Recorder at Port Pirie and The Transcontinental. To go through them all would take much more time than we have today, but there are also TheMurray Valley Standard, The Naracoorte Herald, Plains Producer, The Loxton News, Whyalla News and, of course, the television stations like Channel 8, and there used to be GTS/BKN. They are all important.

If we do not advertise in our printed newspapers in regional South Australia, many people will miss out on the information that could be included—and that was the case with this inquiry. It is so important because very often in regional communities access to reliable internet is not there. Some of the more senior people in our community do not have access to smart devices, and some do not even have a computer, but newspapers, although printed on fewer days now in regional communities, are extremely important. I wholeheartedly support the motion moved by the member for Mount Gambier.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome) (12:27): Again, like other members in this house, it is my great privilege and pleasure to speak to the member for Mount Gambier's motion about the importance of media platforms in regional South Australia.

Many years ago, we all had our regular newspapers in our own communities. In my community of Port Pirie, we had The Recorder, which appeared three times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Port Augusta and Whyalla were similar, as the member for Giles has indicated. In those days, we also had two editions of The News—from memory, one in the morning and one in the afternoon—plus The Advertiser.

Each edition of our local paper was eagerly awaited for the local news plus sporting results and, very importantly, as the member for MacKillop said, the photos of people playing football and things like that. It was not only football but also other social events, whether it was weddings and engagements or other social events. It was one of the biggest things that sold papers: not only the advertising but also the fact that you could buy the paper and see your photo, or a photo of one of your loved ones, and it was absolutely fantastic for those people.

Slowly, these independent newspapers were taken over by various multimedia companies, which in turn have, in my opinion, lost the really local feel in the way they report the news. These papers rely on local business operators placing their advertisements, which not only assists with the cost of production and distribution but, very importantly, is a way of promoting business operations.

These newspapers across all our regions relied on the advertisers and the general public who purchased the papers, whilst at the same time numerous newspapers would promote an event, especially if it was a fundraiser or a sporting event, as well as include council information.

As the member for Giles has indicated, we would always have the local paper in our council meetings in Port Pirie, even when I was on council as the mayor. Unfortunately, at the moment that is not happening because of the lack of two things: they do not have a business premise there because they are all working from home, and the number of staff now being utilised by these organisations as a result of dwindling sales and dwindling cost-effectiveness.

At one stage, governments would also promote their services, such as their events that were paid for by the relevant departments. However, in the past few years this operation has been getting less and less by the state and federal governments, and in particular local government.

I just want to reflect on a couple of moves that have gone through this house, and I will not mention or reflect on the two bills, but the situation is that the organisations 'may advertise' instead 'shall advertise'. Even with the local government at the moment, it is not, 'You shall advertise or promote in the local newspapers,' it is, 'You may do this at the discretion of the CEO.' And 90 per cent of councils these days are actually putting it on their websites or on social media, and I believe that is not the right way to go.

It is not the way to get the message out to our communities because, as members have indicated previously, not everybody is on the computer all day and not everybody has access to a computer. The member for Hammond opened his first computer at 42. I have to agree with what he is saying. The first time I had to go on a computer I was so scared of it I made an excuse. When I was in the shipping section of the smelters I had to say, 'No, there's something wrong with the vessel. I have to go down and look at it.' It is a traumatic experience for people who have not grown up with it.

Like the member for Hammond, I like to actually have the paper in front of me, I like to be able to turn the paper over and I like to see it and actually feel it. But that is not the way it is going at the moment, and I think it is to the demise of our printed newspapers across all the regions and even South Australia in general.

These days it appears to be more fashionable to place any information on social media outlets, being Facebook, Twitter and websites. These activities do not have any financial impact on the organisations. There is nothing in that for the organisation at all, but very importantly it does not assist the local newspapers to provide the service with a paper, which most of us read by having the actual paper in our hands.

The operators of these newspapers not only provide vital information for our communities but also very importantly provide employment for journalists, and in particular training for people wanting to extend their knowledge and future employment opportunities in our regions. It is becoming very disturbing that in lots of acts of parliament there is a tendency for the local council and other government departments to not have to place any communication in the newspaper but rather on social media or a website, which takes revenue away from those who employ the journalists, and very importantly not everyone is glued to a computer, their mobile phone or other apps.

Before I close, I would just like to pay tribute and say that in my electorate of Frome and the surrounding areas we are very blessed because we have the Southern Cross GTS4. We also have the radio stations with 5AU, 5CS and Magic FM, plus ABC 891 and also Trax FM. In the print media, we have the Northern Argus, the Plains Producer, the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, The Flinders News, which is now printed in the Clare area and which is a free publication, The Transcontinental from Port Augusta, the Whyalla News and the Port Pirie Recorder.

I will say that lots of people in the media in Adelaide have actually started their media career in newspapers and also the TV and radio stations in Port Pirie. You only have to look at Jane Doyle and Rosanna Mangiarelli and others who actually started their careers in those areas. Without these newspapers these people would not have had a chance, and the scary part about it is that if the newspapers are dwindling down then the next thing that will not be available is our local TV and radio stations, and everything will be coming from the metropolitan areas and the capital cities.

We are seeing that with the ABC on the radio sometimes, after a certain period of time; it is not from Adelaide, it is from Sydney. We in this state and in our regions need to be very proactive about it. I am very happy and pleased to see members on the other side endorsing this motion from the member for Mount Gambier and I hope it gets traction. I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (12:34): I, too, rise to commend and wholeheartedly support this motion. The member for Mount Gambier obviously comes from a town that has TheBorder Watch as its major newspaper. I think it is still in the Guinness book of records as having the longest serving editor of all time. I think it was a period of 50 years that the editor was in the job.

It is also where I got the first of many thousands of headlines that I have managed to get over my life. Back in about 1972, in the tiny tots graduation, TheBorder Watch in Mount Gambier gave me a fair run. I still have that photo at home—it is a ripper. That is the sort of thing that country newspapers do. They are out there covering the really big issues and then the little things like the tiny tots parades and things like that.

In my local area, The Islander is a really important newspaper in Kangaroo Island and we are well served by an award-winning journalist Stan Gorton, who has done an amazing job since he took up that role. I first met Stan when he was working at the Port Lincoln Times, during the Wangary fires back in 2005. In about 2018, Stan moved from southern New South Wales back to Kangaroo Island, and last year he did an amazing job in telling the stories of the bushfires as they were happening on Kangaroo Island and then the aftermath of those bushfires as well.

He was duly rewarded by being named the best regional journalist in South Australia and also being a finalist in the Walkley awards, the highest honour you can get in journalism. As a former journalist—I am still a paid-up member of the journalists' union—the demise of the mainstream media in Australia saddens me. We see that with News Corp here, the Sunday Mail and The Advertiser have been really gutted in the number of journalists and photographers that they have, which has put an enormous amount of pressure on them. It also means that they get out to the regions a lot less than they used to.

When I worked at The News or The Advertiser, it was nothing to grab a four-wheel drive and head bush for 10 days with a photographer with a couple of stories lined up, but then you would end up in outback Queensland, New South Wales and other parts of South Australia and come back with fantastic stories that needed to be told. The people in Adelaide are richer for those stories being told and so are the people who you are telling the stories about in regional South Australia.

They have been gutted out here, but we have seen country newspapers around South Australia unfortunately gutted out as well. I have always been a big supporter of the Manuel family up in Balaklava with the Plains Producer and of Fraser's family with the Yorke Peninsula Country Times. Michael and everyone who runs the papers up there do a tremendous job. I am really saddened to see the hollowing out of these newspapers.

Part of it can come back to the government spend, and I wholeheartedly agree that the government needs to be spending money advertising in these papers, but we can all take responsibility by not going onto Amazon and those types of sites and ordering shoes and clothes and all these products from other parts of the world. When the local shoe shop in Port Pirie or in Kingscote or the local dress shop or jeans shop in one of these country towns loses out on sale after sale from people going online and ordering their goods, it means that they have less money in their cash registers, which means they have less money to buy ads in the local paper, which means the paper produces fewer pages of news and employs fewer journalists.

It has been a sad demise for a lot of country newspapers, and we need to stop that spiral downwards. Any move to cut government advertising in country newspapers would be a backwards step and I wholeheartedly support the member for Mount Gambier's move to make sure that the government is held accountable and that they do help prop up and support country newspapers in South Australia.

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (12:39): I will keep the conclusion very short because the member for Cheltenham has the next motion, and a very important motion at that. Thank you to all the speakers from both parties in this house and, of course, the Independents. I think this will pass, and I am encouraged by the commitment to an annual spend for communication in regional communities—a good step forward if it does pass.

It is remiss of me not to talk about Country Press SA as an industry body. Their awards nights are always well attended. They do a great job for the cohesion and promotion of country newspapers, and it does sadden me that the committees that I am on have had to fight to make sure that advertising in regional papers is part of the course of business. It is a reflection that some people perhaps only think of one newspaper, but in fact we have many newspapers in our regions that contribute greatly to the fabric of South Australia. With those few words, I commend the motion to the house.

Motion carried.

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