AAP
The Australian Greens will speak with key crossbench MPs to see if they can find some common ground on which to pressure Labor to amend their draft media reforms.
But the Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlum says he's not trying to muster support for the federal government's legislation before a vote in parliament this week.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy wants a package of six bills passed by both houses of parliament by this Thursday, prompting complaints from the independents, the Greens and the coalition that the process was being rushed.
The proposals have proved divisive with the public as well, with 50 protesters rallying against the legislation outside Senator Conroy's office on Sunday.
Labor needs the support of crossbench MPs in the lower house, including the Greens sole representative Adam Bandt, but so far the government has already lost the backing of Craig Thomson and Rob Oakeshott.
In a statement on Sunday, fellow independent Andrew Wilkie said he was yet to decide one way or the other but was displeased with aspects of the proposals.
Senator Ludlum said he'd be contacting crossbench MPs on Sunday afternoon to ascertain what "degrees of common ground" existed between.
But he had no interest in "lining up numbers" for the government.
"We'll put our concerns to them, that might give us a bit more clarity as to whether this package would even survive a vote in the House," Senator Ludlum told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.
The Greens would discuss which way Mr Bandt would vote after hearing evidence this week at a Senate committee into the draft media laws.
The Greens have expressed concerns with drafting "flaws" they believe could fragment the Press Council or mandate the creation of several media regulatory bodies.
Senator Ludlum said this flaw was a "red line" issue for the minor party and they'd be pushing for it to be amended in the Senate if the bills ever got that far.
But Mr Conroy said he won't be negotiating "extraneous issues" with the Greens or independents to get the bills through parliament.
"If it fails it will be because the independents and the minor parties don't want to protect diversity of media in this country," he told ABC TV on Sunday.
He said claims the legislation had been rushed were nonsense as the Labor caucus had been pushing for these changes for years.
Senator Ludlum said Senator Conroy's "combative" approach was unreasonable as many of the proposed reforms were worth supporting.
The Greens said they would consider supporting parts of the package if the government proposed such an idea, but they'd heard nothing yet.
Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said Senator Conroy's handling of the situation had been so "catastrophic" he questioned whether it was designed to fail to embarrass Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
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