Mr CHAMPION (Wakefield) (11:22): I move: That this House: (1) notes: (a) the importance of rural and regional newspapers in providing a vital service to the towns and regional communities they cover; and (b) that maintaining a viable rural and regional press is in the interest of regional communities; and (2) recommends that the Government: (a) considers reviewing the amount of government advertising in regional papers; (b) recognises the significance of its decisions regarding government advertising and the impact that these decisions can have on regional publications; and (c) stops discriminating against newspapers which service rural and regional areas through its changes to government advertising. I have many papers in my electorate. I remember growing up in Kapunda and reading both The Bunyip and The Leader. The Bunyip is a great country paper with a great history. It serves Gawler and the immediate surrounds of that town. The Northern Argus serves Clare and the Gilbert Valley. The Barossa Herald serves the Barossa and the outer Gawler area. TheLeader,based in theBarossa obviously serves the Barossa but it also stretches across into Kapunda, my home town. The Plains Producer services Balaklava, and the Two Wells & Districts Echo serves the people of the Adelaide Plains. These are very important papers, trusted sources of information in these towns. They are trusted to both record the ebb and flow of country life—the sport and the community events—but also to bring the news of the nation and news of government programs to their local community. That is why I can attest to their importance. Several times as a local member, and also as a candidate for public office, I have advertised in these papers. I can attest to their efficacy in terms of advertising dollars. About 32 per cent of the nation is rural or regional, and we know that these country newspapers have the highest levels of content of any medium; they are completely unmatched by radio and television. We have heard government backbenchers talking about some of the changes that have occurred in those media markets in recent years. We have seen a retreat of national news organisations from rural and regional Australia, and I think that is a great pity. We know that they are still the most trusted paid medium in Australia, ahead of TV or radio or online sources. We know that nearly eight million Australians read regional or community newspapers. We know also that in order for these newspapers to continue to do this they have to retain and receive sufficient revenues to remain in print. They are important parts of these communities and important parts of this country. So that is why to one extent or another they rely on government as an advertiser as a source of revenue. Given that eight million people live in rural and regional settings, and given they deserve information from the government as much as people who live in the cities, you would not expect this government to cut regional advertising in the papers in the 2015-16 year by 20 to 30 per cent over what it was in 2014-15. We have country members of the government out there sending in their press releases, expecting them to be quoted verbatim by the country journalists— Mr Ewen Jones: What's wrong with that? Mr CHAMPION: We hear the member for Townsville saying, 'What's wrong with that?' You might want to go and talk to these papers and perhaps talk to the Treasurer and the Finance Minister and get them to start advertising in these papers. We know that this government is not shy of promoting itself. We have ad campaigns for the Green Army, jobactive, the FTA— Mr Nikolic: There is a lot to promote. Mr CHAMPION: I hear the member opposite saying there is a lot to promote. All I am asking is that they give country papers their share of the promotion dollar. Otherwise, there is a suspicion that this is aimed at cities and marginal seats, and not aimed at truly giving information to the public. The classic example of this is the $20,000 instant asset write-off, which was advertised in the city press before the end of the 2014-15 financial year, but someone must have forgotten about the regional press. Yet where do we find the small businesses, the subcontractors and the people who create the great wealth of this nation? Where do you find them? You find them out in country towns; you find them out in farms and in regional communities; that is where you will find them. They deserve information just as much as the marginal seats in the city. They deserve the information. There are 250 regional publications with Country Press Australia, who are in the building and lobbying MPs, so they will be around to see everybody. I think they have sent everybody a copy of every regional paper that they can get their hands on. It is important that the government advertising dollar responds to this campaign, because it is a campaign that is grounded in the public interest. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Broadbent ): I thank the member for Wakefield, and it is a pleasure to agree with him. Is there a seconder to the motion? Ms Brodtmann: I second the motion. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I thank the member for Canberra. The question is that the motion be agreed to. I call the honourable member for Bass.