Senior officials have faced questions over how it divvied up the government’s $153.5 million (US$126.7 million) News Media Assistance Program to local news outlets.
On Oct. 27, officials from the Department of Infrastructure, Sports and Arts were probed on the grant process, why one outlet accused of anti-Semitic reporting received funding, and why News Corporation’s Australian outlets were not supported.
Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson asked whether there were any current investigations—a question coming off the back of Labor’s decision to revoke a $308,000 grant for Islamic media group, OnePath, which had published anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Samuel Grunhard, the First Assistant Secretary for Communication and Arts, said there were no current investigations in the works.
This prompted Henderson to raise further concerns.
Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson speaks on arrival to Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 13, 2026. Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images
“There was a grant of $128,700 given to West Pub Proprietary Initiative, the publisher of Michael West Media, under the Journalism Assistance Fund [part of the News Media Assistance Program],” she said during the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee.
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“I won’t go into the detail now, but there was some concerning material published by this small media organisation,” the senator said, pointing to anti-Semitic tropes published by the outlet.
Grunhard responded: “Not that I am aware of, senator.”
Asked about the vetting process for grant recipients, Grunhard said there were guidelines for eligibility, but they do not cover assessment of a media organisation’s opinions.
“We’ve designed these programs very carefully to ensure there’s no suggestion that the government is deciding what speech should be funded, and what speech shouldn’t be funded,” he said.
“There are absolutely requirements in the grant guidelines and—also in any grant agreement—that they must abide by all relevant Commonwealth laws and regulations that would apply to any speech.”
The Epoch Times contacted Michael West Media for comment.
Limited Restrictions on Content
Communications Secretary Jim Betts then added that the test for eligibility came down to whether the published content was legal.
“Are you concerned about that threshold, in light of some of the activities that may be funded under these grant programs?” Henderson asked.
Betts said the laws were a matter for parliament.
“We are working with our colleagues in Home Affairs to look at model clauses in funding agreements to see what scope there may be within that,” he said.
“But we are conscious of the need to strike a balance, which doesn’t go away between freedom of expression on the one hand, and not propagating racial hatred on the other.”
Why News Corp’s Local Outlets Not Supported
Grunhard explained foreign-owned companies could not apply for assistance.
But Henderson argued the decision was detrimental to long-established regional publications in Australia, which may be owned by foreign-based companies.
“You’re funding the likes of Michael West Media, but not the Herald Sun, not the Courier Mail, not the Geelong Advertiser, not The Australian,” she said.
“I mean, that seems like it’s a very deliberate decision and very, very prejudicial to Australian journalism.”
Labor Senator Nita Green countered that point arguing that, “I haven’t kept up with the ownership structure, but I think Rupert Murdoch is doing okay for himself at the moment.”
But Henderson responded: “Minister, Optus is foreign-owned, and yet we provide very substantial funding to Optus through regional connectivity programs.”
“The government has made this decision very deliberately to exclude parts of the media sector it does not like, and that was prejudicial, and that is not appropriate,” Henderson claimed.
