J-AIR licence battle hits Senate

JEWISH community radio station J-AIR’s battle to obtain a stronger radio signal has gone all the way to federal Parliament, with a Coalition senator asking why the station has been frustrated in its attempts to gain a better licence.

Senator Eric Abetz used a Senate Estimates Committee hearing on October 18 to question Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) acting chair Richard Bean about J-AIR.

Describing J-AIR, which currently holds a narrowcast licence, as “pretty dynamic”, the Tasmanian senator and strong friend of the Jewish community, who has been an on-air interviewee, wanted to know why ACMA has rejected three J-AIR applications in the past four years for a temporary community broadcast licence (TCBL), which station management filed under the broadcasting legislation.

Read the story by Peter Kohn in the Australian Jewish News.

Refer to the story ‘Abetz questions Mr Bean‘ for information on how Senator Abetz questioned Mr Bean from ACMA.