The anti-siphoning list will be widened to include several non-sporting events, under proposals that communications minister Stephen Conroy will take to Cabinet after Easter.

Government sources say the new list is intended to more accurately reflect what is important to Australia in the second decade of the 21st century.  The anti-siphoning list was first established by the Keating government in 1994 and while it has always consisted of sporting events, under the Broadcasting Services Act it is actually intended to cover “events of national importance and cultural significance”.

“If we’re keeping the anti-siphoning list, we want to take it back to its full original meaning,” one senior government source told Crikey.  “It’s time to make it more relevant to 21st century Australia.”

Conroy will propose the removal of some of the more obscure sporting events on the list, such as the French Open.  In addition to establishing a new list for 10 years, requiring a review after analog switch-off, and widening the list to cover IPTV, Conroy also proposes to include several important cultural events, although the final list is still to be agreed by Cabinet.  The goal is to better reflect a multicultural, low-carbon society with greater diversity and aspirations than that suggested by a list made up of sporting lists.

Proposals include:

  • Events of national commemoration such as  the Dawn Service from Gallipoli
  • Important religious events such as World Youth Day and the visit of the Dalai Lama
  • Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
  • The Adelaide Festival and Melbourne Comedy Festival
  • The Rock Eisteddfod
  • The Moomba Festival
  • Climate change-related events such as Earth Hour

There are understood to be divisions within Cabinet over adding Earth Hour to the list.  “I thought the point of Earth Hour was to turn the bloody TV off,” one Cabinet minister said.  An early suggestion to include the Queen’s Christmas Message was also rejected by Labor republicans.

The new list will start from  April 1, 2011.