Rupert Murdoch: Malcolm Turnbull's media law plans 'suit buddies at Nine'

Rupert Murdoch has accused the communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, of proposing changes to media laws that would “suit buddies at Nine”.

The News Corp executive chairman’s criticism reflects concerns within his media group that the government is cherry-picking changes while failing to reform the “anti-siphoning list”, which gives free-to-air broadcasters first rights to major sporting events.

Turnbull has proposed scrapping the “two out of three” rule that prohibits a person controlling a commercial television licence, a commercial radio licence and a newspaper in the same area.

The minister also is interested in abolishing the “reach” rule that ensures that a single owner cannot control commercial television licences reaching more than 75% of the Australian population.

Turnbull has not flagged any changes to the anti-siphoning list, but News Corp Australia has made clear that it would not support reforms that excluded such changes.

News Corp, which owns Fox Sports and a 50% stake in pay-television brand Foxtel, objects to the “outdated” list, arguing it contains too many events and should be cut back.

“Turnbull’s plans to scrap certain rules suit buddies at Nine,” Murdoch said in a post on Twitter on Monday, indicating that the proposals did not go far enough.

“Can’t oppose dumping all regs but not this. Nice to see how MT [Malcolm Turnbull] plays.”

Turnbull is seeking formal policy approval from the prime minister, Tony Abbott, to put a submission to cabinet which would argue in favour of abolishing Australia’s platform-specific ownership rules regulating newspapers and radio and television.

Nine Entertainment Company, which runs the Nine Network, has previously called for the repeal of the “outdated” reach rule saying such a move was “inevitable”.

It is possible the abolition of the reach rule would clear the way for Nine to merge with regional affiliate WIN. In its 2014 annual report, Nine Entertainment Company said it was “well positioned if and when this deregulation occurs”.

Turbull has contended that technological change such as the rise of the internet and subscription television has rendered the current regulatory framework redundant.

Internet-streaming services continue to grow in popularity, with leading player Netflix due to launch in Australia shortly.

Turnbull, who is considered a leadership contender, has now put the ball firmly in the prime minister’s court.

The proposed policy could trigger a run of mergers and rationalisations in the Australian media sector, which is among the most concentrated in terms of ownership in the developed world.

News Corp Australia, the country’s dominant publisher of newspapers, said “dramatic” changes to the media landscape required the government to amend “all media policy settings”, not just the “two out of three” rule and the “reach” rule.

The chief executive, Julian Clarke, said the company would not support any change “if it involves cherry-picking some policies and only changing these”.

“It is critical that any package of reform includes severely reducing the length of the outdated anti-siphoning list – which is the longest such list in the world, covering over 1,300 sporting events, and has the effect of reducing the public’s access to sporting events,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Clarke also spoke out against the possibility of Foxtel being required to pay retransmission fees to carry free-to-air television channels via Foxtel services.

He said the company was “totally opposed” to such a move, arguing the pay TV providers should not be charged “for the public’s convenience of accessing free-to-air television via their Foxtel connection, when all free-to-air channels are freely available via an antenna”.

“It is in the public’s interest to leave access to free-to-air channels exactly as it is,” Clarke said.

The prime minister has said repeatedly that the Coalition has no appetite to take on the media regulation debate if there is no consensus in the industry about how to proceed.

A year of talks between the government and leading industry figures has produced no consensus on the best way forward, and given the competing commercial interests involved, consensus in the future seems quite unlikely.

Abbott will have to decide whether the government should proceed with a deregulation agenda, or shelve it indefinitely.

Media reform remains a sensitive topic with the National party. Turnbull’s decision to flag his interest in overhauling the regulatory framework sparked a robust backlash from some regional MPs.

The communications minister was forced to give public assurances that any new regime pursued by the government would include local content rules forcing regional broadcasters to produce local news bulletins.