Mildura residents will no longer be able to watch channel 10 or its Bold and Peach channels on free-to-air television from 30 June as Mildura Digital Television Pty Ltd shuts down, taking Masterchef off the menu and putting Mildura in The Cheap Seats.

“I understand there are commercial imperatives at play here but the question here for the Albanese Labor Government is, Have You Been Paying Attention?,” Member for Mallee and long-term Mildura resident Dr Anne Webster said today.

“Mildura has been put in The Dog House by the SevenWest – WIN joint venture, effectively telling local residents I’m an Australian Operation, Get Me Out of Here!”

“The Albanese Labor Government is leaving Regional Australia yet again to wither on the vine while they dither on the surging power of Meta, Google and social media platforms to push their content and ideological agenda onto Australians as their primary source of entertainment and news.  The foreign operators’ market power is a major factor in commercial TV’s struggle for advertising revenue.”

“The Coalition lead the way on controlling online content in the national interest, proposing age verification to protect children online with the Communications Minister only very recently realising something needs to happen.

Shadow Minister for Communications David Coleman said the Coalition has supported a reduction in the tax impost on television broadcasters.

“We want to get rid of a big tax that local TV outlets are forced to pay,” Mr Coleman said.

“It’s called the Commercial Broadcasting Tax, and in 2023, TV broadcasters were forced to pay over $44 million for it.

“The tax disproportionately affects regional broadcasters.  If they didn’t have to pay this tax, they’d have more money to invest in staff and programs for local communities.”