Page 681 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2018

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This is what a sustained commitment to fairness and social investment can achieve for young and for old. It stands in stark contrast to an alternative on offer, and that offer is to audit and sell off public housing, to end housing renewal and to stigmatise housing tenants across the ACT. The Assembly has very important work to do this week. This matter was settled publicly. We need to get on with what we are here for.

MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (11.04): My first observation is that Mr Barr is a human being as well as Chief Minister. As such, he is entitled to his views and he has apologised profusely and extensively for how he has expressed them. For Ms Lawder’s benefit or for anyone else who might doubt it, I of course stand by my comments in the Canberra Times. The Greens believe that independent journalism is critical to the functioning of our democracy. From the Greens’ point of view, we obviously do not totally share Mr Barr’s views. But I and the Greens believe that a free and well-resourced press is vital to our democracy. It is part of our democracy.

How do people get their information about what is happening in the political sphere or in any sphere? That is the role of the press, and we should be seeking to strengthen it, not diminish it. I personally hope that we have robust debates and differences of opinion in the media, but unfortunately we seem to be having this less and less.

Most people and most journalists, it seems, unfortunately do not have the time, energy and resources to access and understand all the information on issues. This is where journalists and the media are incredibly important in that they do have, in a diminishing amount it seems, the resources to actually look at what is happening, to make the commentary: “Yes, so-and-so said this two months ago, but now they are saying this or they are saying this. Two years ago there was a court case on it.” That is the role of journalists and we should all be supporting it.

I think there are issues with media in Australia. I am pleased to hear Mr Barr’s strong support for the ABC and its charter. I think that is important. But I would go further and say that media is very concentrated in Australia and in the ACT—and unfortunately that is true—and, running the risk of sounding like Mr Trump, that is actually very sad. The solution is not, however, to say that we should have less to do with media, that we should have less to do with journalists. The solution is to double down and do more.

Other parts of the media are not perfect. In the last couple of days we have had a major story about Facebook having leaked the profiles of 50 million people. That is a media sin far exceeding anything that has been done by traditional media in recent years, I think. I would say that probably the biggest issue probably for all our media is that they are not paying enough attention to the really big issues.

The Assembly knows what I think the really big issues are. If we do not address climate change with a lot more energy and enthusiasm than we as a local community or we as a world are doing then the other issues will become irrelevant because of the significant climate changes that we are already seeing happen. That is, in my mind, the biggest problem of media at present. But there are other environmental issues.


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