Howard Government not so keen on media law reform after all?

In the issue of The Bulletin that came out yesterday, John Howard made the first public mention of possibly not going to hard into changing media ownership legislation. It's not the first time I've heard him mention this idea of what he is and isn't willing to expend his 'political capital' on, just the first time its been explicitly linked to the media ownership debate.

The below is from a News Limited article:

"In an interview with The Bulletin magazine, the Prime Minister restated his view that media reform was less of a priority than industrial relations or welfare reform.

But he then went further, suggesting it may not occur at all.
'It's not something that I'm going to dissipate a lot of political capital on. People should understand that,' he said. 'If we end up with everyone coming in for a chop and the thing being impossible to resolve, we'll just leave it as it is.'

Asked about Mr Howard's comment on media reform, Communications Minister Helen Coonan issued a statement saying the Government was committed to the reform 'while protecting the public interest in a diverse and vibrant media sector'.
'No decision has been taken as to the timing of introduction of legislation to reform Australia's media ownership laws,' Senator Coonan said."

Link: Full news.com.au story