The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, has refused to rule out splitting the government’s media package, after Labor, the Greens and One Nation declared they opposed abolishing a key section protecting media diversity.
At an event to express support for the package with senior executives from major media companies in Canberra, Fifield said that package was “comprehensive and holistic” and “deserves to be supported as a whole” but would not rule out splitting the bill.
At issue is the two-out-of-three rule, which restricts cross-media ownership by preventing moguls from controlling a free-to-air TV station, newspapers and radio stations in the same market.
Labor and One Nation support other elements of the package, including lowering licensing fees and abolishing the 75% reach rule that prevents Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media and the Ten Network from owning their regional affiliates.
But along with the Greens, their opposition to abolishing the two-out-of-three rule would be sufficient to sink the package. Nick Xenophon is still negotiating with the government but is likely to approve it after achieving concessions including banning gambling ads before 8.30pm.
At the media gathering, Fifield said the government had “done its part by pulling media reform out of the long grass” and media had “done its part” by uniting in support of the package.
“It’s time for the parliament to [seize] on this historic opportunity ... to ensure the strong voices [in the Australian media] continue,” he said.
At a doorstop after the speech, Fifield was twice asked to rule out splitting the bill and replied that the package was “comprehensive and holistic”.
“No one in the sector gets everything they want but everybody gets part of what they want, so it deserves to be supported in its entirety,” he said. “I’ll be putting it forward as a whole.”
Fifield said he was a “legislative optimist” and would continue to work with the crossbench.
In his speech the Fairfax Media chief executive, Greg Hywood, warned opponents of the media package that failure to pass the bill was likely to have “long term and adverse consequences for Australian journalism and for this industry”.
“The sectional interests you may think you are protecting will in fact benefit in the long run from a stronger, more modern, outward looking Australian media industry.”
He said that while opponents were genuine in their concern the justification for change was “overwhelming” because media ownership laws were outdated.
Fifield said that the government had responded to the media industry requesting “more options in terms of how they can configure themselves”, including by achieving a larger scale of operations to remain viable.
Malcolm Turnbull said the media industry had been united by “the clear necessity of survival”.
“Everything you’ve heard about the antiquated nature of the media laws we have is absolutely right,” he said, citing the fact the internet and Facebook did not exist when the laws were designed.
Labor’s communications spokeswoman, Michelle Rowland, told Guardian Australia on Wednesday the government could have passed significant elements of its media reform package last year, with Labor’s support, if it was prepared to split the package.
“Mitch Fifield keeps saying take it or leave it but they could have had the reach rule last year,” she said. “The case for repeal of the two-out-of-three rule has not been made out.
“We still have one of the most concentrated media markets in the world.”
Rowland said the government had failed to produce any safeguards protecting diversity of media ownership post-deregulation. She said the government had also declined to undertake a comprehensive independent review to determine the current level of concentration of media ownership.
A spokesman for One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, said the party supports the “vast majority” of the reforms but was “not convinced that the challenges facing media operators justify the abolishment of the two out of three rule”.
He described it as “a rule which is crucial to ensuring that a single operator, either foreign or domestic, does not establish a monopoly control of media distribution in a single region”.
Fifield said that diversity protections would remain, including the presence of the ABC, SBS the two-to-a-market radio rule, the one-to-a-market TV rule and the five-four voices rule.
