PM pushes Katter plan as compromise to rescue reforms "Shambolic" process: The Prime Minister at question time. The Gillard government was fighting to salvage at least some of its controversial media reform package on Wednesday night as crucial independents walked away from the proposed laws because of Labor's "shambolic" process. The government appeared very unlikely to win support for the most contested of its proposals - a public interest media advocate to oversee Press Council standards. But after Prime Minister Julia Gillard intervened personally in two days of frantic negotiations against a backdrop of rising tensions surrounding the Labor leadership, a compromise emerged aimed at saving the reforms concerning media diversity. Andrew Wilkie. The plan, originally proposed by Queensland independent Bob Katter, was for a public interest panel of three people to replace the single public interest media advocate proposed by the government. The three-person panel would oversee media mergers and acquisitions to determine whether they diminished competition in the industry. In order to avoid the charge that the government would use the panel to indirectly control the press, the panel would in turn be appointed by a 12-person committee, with six of its members nominated by the Council for the Order of Australia, three by the journalists' union and three by the Press Council. The government needs the support of all five of the seven crossbench independents who have not completely ruled out supporting the reforms. On Wednesday night that also appeared unlikely. In the afternoon, before the convoluted proposal was circulated, Andrew Wilkie had joined fellow independent Rob Oakeshott in announcing he would vote against all four of the government's remaining media bills. "Frankly, this is a shambles of the government's own making, and no reasonable person could expect quality decisions to be made in these circumstances," Mr Wilkie said. That meant Ms Gillard and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy were forced to spend the afternoon trying to secure the votes of the five remaining crossbenchers - independents Craig Thomson, Katter, Tony Windsor and Peter Slipper, and the Greens' Adam Bandt. Despite having also said previously that he would not vote for the changes, Mr Thomson met Mr Katter in the afternoon and was considering the plan. Most of the crossbenchers have ruled out supporting any kind of Press Council oversight. The Greens, meanwhile, secured amendments to ensure there was a single Press Council, with a separate pre-existing West Australian entity able to remain so long as it signed up to the new standards. The lower house has already passed two relatively uncontroversial bills that would expand the requirement for Australian content, prevent the establishment of a fourth commercial television network, and update the ABC and SBS charters to explicitly require the production of online content. Debate on the media diversity bill was delayed while the negotiations continued into the night. Coalition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said the way the debate was being conducted was "absurd." There are so many mad ideas swirling around among the independents and the government. The government is so desperate to get anything passed.