NEWS Ltd boss Kim Williams has threatened to fight a mooted government-funded regulator ''as far as the High Court''.

In a feisty speech to the South Australian Press Club yesterday, Mr Williams warned the government against further regulation of the media, including a proposed public interest test for media owners.

News Ltd CEO Kim Williams. Credit:Jesse Marlow

''When it confronts a changing situation caused by technological or other change, the default reaction of the bureaucratic mind appears to be to reach for more regulation,'' he said. ''It is positively Pavlovian. The result can at times be ugly, at other rare times quite elegant - but usually only in the way that a deadly spider's web can be elegant.''

Mr Williams said the recommendations in the recent Finkelstein and convergence reviews into the media ''contemplate unhealthy levels of government oversight and control … I'm not suggesting for a moment that we are in danger of creating a police state …