THE government’s media inquiry will hear the case for newspaper proprietors to undergo a test for fit and proper character before being allowed to publish, when public hearings are held in Melbourne this week.
The inquiry, headed by former Federal Court judge Ray Finkelstein QC, begins public hearings in Melbourne tomorrow (Tuesday) with academic Robert Manne, publisher Eric Beecher and Crikey founder Stephen Mayne all scheduled to appear.
Mayne told The Australian he had not sought to appear, but had “been invited via email from a bureaucrat”.
“I haven’t made a submission, but I am looking forward to the inquiry,” he said.
Mayne, a strident critic of News Limited, publisher of The Australian, is known as a shareholder activist and attended the last News Corporation annual general meeting.
