Independent MP Bob Katter is confident his alternative plan for media reforms will find support. Source: AAP
STEPHEN Conroy's controversial media legislation has gone down in flames, in what the opposition calls a humiliating backdown.
The communications minister, however, summed up the much-criticised process as a "conclusion" to reform in the sector.
The government withdrew four bills on Thursday after last ditch efforts failed to win support from crossbenchers.
The draft laws affecting media ownership and regulation had sparked anger and protestation from media organisations.
Senator Conroy had announced the bills last week, saying there would be no bartering on the detail.
But Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says Labor's done little but intensely barter with crossbenchers during the past 48 hours.
"It was policy on the run," he said.
"It was galloping along in a desperate effort to preserve the prime minister's position, to preserve Julia Gillard."
He says it's also a "humiliating backdown".
Senator Conroy says the dumping of the legislation spells the end of the government's push to get the bills through parliament.
"The government sees this as a conclusion to the parliamentary debate on media reform," he said in a statement on Thursday.
The four bills included proposals to introduce a new public interest test for media mergers and acquisitions and to establish an advocate to ensure press councils upheld standards and dealt with complaints.
Two non-contentious bills to reducing licence fees for commercial television broadcasters and make changes to the level of local content broadcast passed earlier this week.
Senator Conroy insists the proposed reforms sought to place the public interest at the forefront of any further media consolidation.
"The government also believes that the self-regulation of the press, through the Australian Press Council and the Independent Media Council, needs to be strengthened and made more independent from newspaper proprietors," he said.
Australian Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlum says almost everything about the way the bills were handled was "deeply flawed", and that was a major reason the package failed.
"Key independents, including Mr Andrew Wilkie, should also bear responsibility for sinking the reforms by siding with the media barons instead of the public interest," Senator Ludlum said.
Senator Conroy listed some wins from the government's bid to reform the industry, saying the Australian Press Council (APC) had strengthened its complaint processes after the government commissioned the Finkelstein inquiry into the media in 2011.
"I would expect the APC to continue to strengthen its capacity to independently scrutinise the performance of our news media so it can improve the public's confidence in how it operates," he said.
The government also announced in 2011 a review of the rules and framework that applied to the converged media landscape, he said.
Australian Associated Press chief Bruce Davidson welcomed the decision not to proceed with legislation on a public interest advocate.
"The danger of having any government oversight of the press is far greater than the perceived benefits," he said.
The Ten Network said commonsense had prevailed.
"Principles aside, these bills were fundamentally flawed, contained numerous significant drafting and operational problems and could not realistically be implemented in their current form," Ten's director of communications Neil Shoebridge said.
Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes also said his company had reservations about the bills.
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