[In Indonesia, freedom of the press is under the spotlight with controversial plans by the government to prevent the rebroadcast of certain foreign programs on local media. Opponents say its a crude attempt at censorship. If the legislation gets through parliament later this month, it'll directly impact on news services from the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Australia.]

Presenter/Interviewer: Claudette Werden

Speakers: Abdullah Alamudi Lecturer, Dr Soetomo Press Institute; Widyatyana Merati, Chair of Government Interdepartment Formulating Committee; Jean Gabriel Manguy, head of Radio Australia.

Werden: According to Abdullah Alamudi, Senior lecturer at the Dr Soetomo Press Institute in Jakarta, the new broadcasting bill is a case of deja vu with Indonesian President, Megawati Sukarnoputri following in the footsteps of her late father.

Alamudi: I feel very, very, very bad, I feel terrible because this decision if it is passed, if the bill is passed as it is, it turns back the clock some 40 years back, to 1964 when President Sukarno banned Indonesians from listening to radio broadcasts from outside Indonesia during that time, during the height of confrontation with Malaysia.

Werden: The controversial broadcasting bill to be tabled in parliament on September 29, limits the replay of regular foreign programs on local television and radio with the exception of certain sports and some international events.

For Radio Australia, the international arm of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the direct impact of the new law would mean the cancellation of relay broadcasts to 24 local affiliates in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government says the move is designed to prevent local media outlets from being manipulated by foreign media. Chair of the committee tasked with drafting the law, Professor Widyatyana Merati

Widyatyana: Not just only the news, we also have the other programs like MTV, we don't have our broadcaster, to broadcast the foreign continuously like that.

Werden: So how will it effect the broadcasting of say for example the ABC.

Widyatyana: You can still have your listener, because your radio we can catch you in Indonesia very clearly, you don't have to worry about your going to lose your listener in my opinion your broadcasting emission in Indonesia is very clear, you don't have to use our broadcaster to relay your emission.

Werden: Head of the ABC's Radio Australia Jean Gabriel Manguy.

Manguy : Well its a bit hard to believe, what is showing in audience surveys we have access to is that the majority of Indonesians still get their information, entertainment and so on through local outlets and the majority of programming is produced locally, obviously there is some coming from outside, I dont think it can be considered a threat.

Werden: Critics point out the proposed new media laws contravene the country's exisiting Press Laws which states there should be no censorship, closing down or banning of broadcasts from the national press. And they argue the government's attempt to curb press freedom will lead to an unhealthy reliance on the government as the official source of information

Alamudi: There's definitely a danger because that means we only listen to, our window or gate for information is closed down, how can I know whats happening in Afghanistan, Middle East or in Australia, if I can not listen to your broadcast, I cannot listen to the BBC, the ABC, I cannot listen to Voice of America, I cannot watch CNN.

Werden: Why do you think the government has chosen to go down this path.

Alamudi: The government is afraid of freedom of the press because ever since Megawati came into power, ever since the fall of Suharto, immediately the press was given its freedom back and ever since then, criticism everyday, statements by experts of the performance of the government, non-performance of the government and criticism of the economy its all there and the government is not happy with that.

Werden: But this law only bans the replay of foreign media so there is nothing to prevent you from continuing to report those kind of things internally is there?

Now listen tell me which media here in Indonesia that publish or broadcast reports on illegal logging, your tv, and the BBC and CNN carry this kind of programs so Indonesians know who is doing what, which local organisations publish reports in detail about the smuggling of sand to be exported to Singapore and damaging our coral.

Werden: Local media is also concerned about another key component of the law which would allow the governnent to appoint civil servants to each media outlet to supervise material being broadcast – it is they say another form of censorship.

Alamudi: You know these kind of secret service supervisors going back to the communist system of Soviet Union where you have this political commisar in every organisation in every walk of life.