Communications Legislation Amendment (Prominence and Anti-Siphoning) Bill 2024

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This means the original text will remain unchanged. The amendment was introduced by Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that fair and balanced reporting of news by journalists is crucial to supporting democracy and ensuring that Australians can participate properly in citizenship; and

(b) calls on the Government to introduce a requirement:

(i) that all free-to-air broadcasters provide impartial, fair and balanced reporting of all news and current affairs, and

(ii) that the SBS and ABC (other than SBS and ABC radio) become subscription-based services, whereby Australian consumers pay an optional small annual licensing fee to access content, with the result of cessation of public funding".