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Yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition (Senator McKenna), Senator Kennelly and speakers on this side of the chamber dealt with the matter of a quota for Australian artists. The bill at present before the Senate envisages a quota of about 5 per cent. for Australian artists. The Opposition suggests that the quota should be more in the region of 55 per cent. When the original legislation with regard to television was introduced, in 1942, by a Labour government, a quota of 21/2 per cent. was provided.
My own view is that the principle of a quota is wrong. Whenever a quota is prescribed, there is a tendency to work up to the quota, but not beyond it. The real test of any entertainment is its quality, and for too long we in Australia have had an insular attitude towards entertainment. I suggest that that attitude is a form of inferiority complex. We do not need quotas in Australia, because our artists have proved their quality throughout the world in the field of broadcasting, particularly in commercial broadcasting. There is a danger in having a quota. The natural and proper thing to do is to provide the best possible entertainment for the Australian listening and viewing public. If we are required to have a quota, we shall adopt an entirely false approach in broadcasting and the entertainment provided will suffer. I suggest that if we leave quotas completely out of the question, we shall have a much higher percentage than 5 per cent. of Australian artists engaged in television and broadcasting, and their entertainment will be of high quality. Therefore, I am not very enthusiastic about the principle of quotas. All my instincts tell me that the only guide in this regard should be quality. Australia is a young country. It has made tremendous progress in all fieldsof science, and our development has been magnificent.
This belief was perhaps the most damaging one in early Australian TV production.
Some more from Anderson…
I conclude by saying that television is a wonderful medium on the one hand but a very dangerous one on the other. It is something that we must watch very carefully in order to prevent its taking control of our rising generation of children. We must ensure that it shall be conducted on the basis of entertainment and that it shall not be exploited on the pretext of providing education. [ have a great antipathy to people who want to be continually moralizing, who want television» , «plays and stories that seek to jamb some moral down people's throats. Such programmes often defeat their purpose. My experience in America in particular, and, to a lesser extent, in Great Britain, was that they were falling for that error. They were trying to give the people special forms of television to save their souls, but, for the main part, they were merely nauseating them and setting up a situation that might be bad for any children who might be watching.
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