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Australian Premier Tries to Save Media Oversight Law | Australian Premier Tries to Save Media Oversight Law |
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SYDNEY, Australia — Prime Minister Julia Gillard was trying on Wednesday to salvage contentious media-oversight legislation that has angered much of the Australian news industry and emboldened the political opposition. On Thursday, a senior government minister, Simon Crean, called on Ms. Gillard to hold a leadership ballot, and if she refused, he urged her colleagues in the Labor government to sign a petition to force a vote. Australian prime ministers are selected by lawmakers of the ruling party. | |
Ms. Gillard, who became Australia’s first female prime minister in a 2010 party coup that ousted Kevin Rudd, has seen her poll ratings plummet since announcing in January that federal elections would be held in September. | |
The controversial legislation was proposed by Stephen Conroy, the communications minister, following up on an inquiry into news media practices that Ms. Gillard announced in 2011 at the height of the phone hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. Most episodes occurred in Britain, and no major allegations were proved against Mr. Murdoch’s Australian media holdings. | |
But the new proposals — particularly the creation of a government post given responsibility for overseeing the news media’s self-regulatory bodies and determining whether media mergers can proceed — were greeted by some of Australia’s leading media outlets with a scathing public campaign. The Daily Telegraph, a tabloid, published a front-page spread that grouped Mr. Conroy with such enemies of a free press as Mao Zedong, Kim Jong-il and Joseph Stalin. | But the new proposals — particularly the creation of a government post given responsibility for overseeing the news media’s self-regulatory bodies and determining whether media mergers can proceed — were greeted by some of Australia’s leading media outlets with a scathing public campaign. The Daily Telegraph, a tabloid, published a front-page spread that grouped Mr. Conroy with such enemies of a free press as Mao Zedong, Kim Jong-il and Joseph Stalin. |
Greg Hywood, the chief executive of Fairfax Media, which publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, also criticized the proposals as an affront to democratic principles. He told Parliament this week that the appointment of a regulator “will have seriously dangerous consequences for good government.” | Greg Hywood, the chief executive of Fairfax Media, which publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, also criticized the proposals as an affront to democratic principles. He told Parliament this week that the appointment of a regulator “will have seriously dangerous consequences for good government.” |
Susan Forde, a professor of journalism at Griffith University, said the proposed media laws were “fairly weak and timid” “and “certainly nothing to be concerned about in terms of our democracy and freedom.” | |
The proposals fall well short of some changes recommended by the panel that investigated Australian media practices. That body, led by a former federal judge, Ray Finkelstein, called for direct government oversight over print and online news media and the creation of a statutory regulator with prosecutorial power. | |
For Ms. Gillard, more worrisome than the hostility from the media has been her inability to get the independent lawmakers upon whom her fragile government relies to support the proposals, which has underscored her political vulnerability . | |
The independent Tasmanian lawmaker Andrew Wilkie backed away from the legislation on Wednesday despite heavy lobbying from the government. Another independent, Bob Katter, also said late Wednesday that he could not support the bill, which is scheduled to come up for a vote on Thursday. | The independent Tasmanian lawmaker Andrew Wilkie backed away from the legislation on Wednesday despite heavy lobbying from the government. Another independent, Bob Katter, also said late Wednesday that he could not support the bill, which is scheduled to come up for a vote on Thursday. |
Ms. Gillard has led a tenuous minority government since her parliamentary majority was diminished in a 2010 election. She beat back a leadership challenge from Mr. Rudd early in 2012, but has slid in the polls against Tony Abbott, the leader of the opposition Liberal-National coalition. Mr. Crean said that he would support Mr. Rudd for prime minister. |