Aust. wants TV hand in Papua New Guinea

Press, 27 January 1986, Page 15

Aust. wants TV hand in Papua New Guinea

NZPA-AAP Port Moresby Mr Rupert Murdoch’s Channel Ten and the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, have both written confidentially to the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Mr Paias Wingti, lobbying on communications develoments.

Channel Ten’s general manager, Mr Wilf Barker, has expressed interest in establishing a television service in Papua New Guinea. Channel Ten sources confirmed to A.A.P. that this is part of a plan by the Murdoch group to compete with Mr Kerry Packer’s Channel Nine in

satellite dissemination of programmes in the Pacific Islands region.

Mr Hawke has written to Mr Wingti urging his Government to make use of Australia’s AUSSAT satellite system. The previous Government of Mr Michael Somare last March announced a deal with a Washington-based company called TRT which is keen to use the country’s allocated satellite waveband.

Australia has argued that Papua New Guinea should stick by its original intention of using AUSSAT, whose third stage has now been modified

for Pacific users. The- latest representations, both by Mr Hawke and Channnel Ten, reflect a heightened interest by Australia in communications developments in Papua New Guinea. The nation, with a population of 3.5 million, is seen as a base for expansion of television services into the Pacific region.

A Channel Ten offer to “carefully vet” programmes to comply with “national objectives" comes against a background of political controversy about the suitability of overseas material for broadcast in Papua New Guinea.