After months spent grilling the ABC over its increasing Sydneyfication, Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has taken matters into her own hands.

Yesterday she introduced a private members’ bill into the Senate, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Amendment (Rural and Regional Advocacy) Bill 2015, which would force the ABC to focus staff and resources on rural and regional Australia through a range of explicit requirements on rural staffing, corporate governance and programming. The bill also attempts to force the ABC to broadcast “at least 5 radio bulletins that consist solely or primarily of regional or local news” between 5am and 8pm, and to base two of its directors in rural and regional Australia. The bill has been taken to both the Nationals and Coalition party rooms, but as a private members’ bill, not formally voted on.

McKenzie told Crikey this morning that the process of building support for the bill starts now. “It’s day one,” she said.

“The government will take position on the bill at the time it is on the floor of the Senate. I’ll be speaking to independent senators over the summer break, and hoping to conduct an inquiry into the bill. The committee process is worthwhile to see if there’s some ways to make it better.”

“I seek for the ABC to not just reflect cultural diversity, but our geographic diversity.

“If you went out on the street of any country town or capital city and asked them what they thought their broadcaster’s role was, it would be not to be competing with Kochie and Mel for breakfast news eyeballs, but to ensure that Australians who don’t have access to high-quality local news, entertainment, weather and emergency services information, do.

“When everyone talks about cuts to the ABC, for me, it’s about prioritisation. When you’re a manager or CEO in any leadership role, you have finite resources. It’s about how you choose to spend those. My bill seeks to incentivise the ABC to prioritise rural and regional Australia service provision.”

The bill, which reportedly received applause from regional MPs when discussed yesterday in the Coalition party room, capitalises on persistent anger from some MPs, often fuelled, at least in part, by ABC staff and listeners, who feel the ABC prioritises “competing” with commercial broadcasters on television and in the digital space over servicing communities outside of Sydney.

Asked whether he supported McKenzie’s bill, communications minister Mitch Fifield told Crikey that it was a private members’ bill and thus not a government policy. “[B]ut I welcome conversations about how the ABC can best serve regional and rural Australians,” Fifield said.

Over the past four years there have been at least four Senate inquiries and two bills looking or seeking to change how the ABC covers regional news an programming (though McKenzie says none of the other bills dealt with exactly the issues she raises). The most recent attempt was introduced by South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon last November. In light of ABC cuts to programming and production resources in South Australia, Xenophon sought to force the ABC to retain a dedicated half-hour of state-based news on Friday nights (and to have production units in several states outside of New South Wales, including South Australia). The bill died in committee following an inquiry.

Speaking to Crikey on McKenzie’s bill, ABC corporate affairs director Michael Millett said the ABC was “happy to engage in debate around the merits of the bill, as it is likely that there will be an inquiry off the back of it”.

“There have been similar inquiries on similar pieces of legislation over the past few years, and, almost inevitably, they end up with unanimous agreement that the ABC is doing a good job in servicing its regional and rural constituency,” he added.

McKenzie’s bill also seeks to to establish an ABC Rural and Regional Advisory Council, which would report to the ABC board on regional staffing and issues. Millett said the ABC had already set up a separate regional division last year.

“The whole point of setting up that regional division was to ensure the ABC got the best return out of its investment in those areas,” he said. “Under [ABC regional director] Fiona Reynolds, the division is doing a good job of connecting with stakeholders and developing programming for a modern audience.”

Regional news programming across Australia is under threat, with Fairfax cutting staff numbers at its regional papers and WIN closes several regional TV bureaux. In response to these changes, the House Arts and Communications Committee, chaired by Bronwyn Bishop, is scoping an inquiry into regional media, which is expected to kick off early next year. It will no doubt examine the role of the ABC.

At Senate estimates on Monday, ABC managing director Mark Scott revealed the ABC was seeking specific funding for its rural division. The ABC has previously sought and received tied funding for things like an expansion of its business journalism operations, or to fund its national reporting team. The ABC’s current funding grant expires in June; funding negotiations are ongoing.