Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Minchin for that question. The government appreciates that the availability in Australia of al-Manar TV via the Indosat satellite is a matter of significant concern in the community. It has been widely reported that al-Manar TV is funded at least in part by Hezbollah. Programming from another country transmitted into Australia via satellite must comply with the ACMA’s antiterrorism standards. These standards were first introduced by the ACMA in 2006. The antiterrorism standards prohibit programs that recruit or solicit funds for a listed terrorist organisation. Last year, the ACMA began an investigation of al-Manar TV. Contrary to media commentary on this issue, al-Manar has never been previously prohibited in Australia. ACMA’s investigation was commenced following media reports about al-Manar being received in the Asia-Pacific region. It did not stem from any specific complaint about program content.

In its investigation, ACMA analysed al-Manar broadcasts for a nine-day period in August and September last year. In its recently released report, ACMA found that al-Manar did not breach the antiterrorism standards, as the program content did not recruit people to join Hezbollah or solicit funds for them. Notwithstanding this finding, given the seriousness of this matter and the limited amount of content examined in the investigation, the government has asked ACMA to continue to keep this matter under close scrutiny and to ensure that programs broadcast in Australia do not breach our antiterrorism standards or other criminal codes. (Time expired)