REGIONAL news publishers have welcomed the release of draft News Bargaining Incentive legislation and urged all Members of Parliament, regardless of party, to support its passage.
Damian Morgan, President of Country Press Australia (CPA), which represents more than 240 regional and community news publications and their digital news service across the country, said the proposed legislation was an important step toward restoring fairness between Australian news publishers and major global digital platforms.
CPA recognised the work of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister for Communications Anika Wells and Assistant Treasurer Dr Daniel Mulino in progressing the draft legislation and acknowledged the constructive engagement with the regional news sector through the policy development process.
“This fundamentally is about fairness, but it is also about truth, facts and the future of informed communities,” Mr Morgan said. “Professional journalism costs money to produce. Large digital platforms derive value from that journalism, but they do not employ local reporters, editors and photographers who create it. The News Bargaining Incentive is designed to encourage fair commercial agreements so that Australian journalism can remain sustainable.”
Simply put, the NBI would require large digital platforms, including META, TikTok and Google, to pay a charge unless they have reached commercial agreements that fairly compensate eligible Australian news organisations.
CPA said the proposed legislation builds on the News Media Bargaining Code, introduced by the former Coalition Government, which established the important principle that powerful global technology platforms should contribute to the cost of news content from which they benefit.
Australia has led the world in confronting this challenge. That leadership has been bipartisan, and CPA is calling for the same spirit of cross-party support to continue.
“Every community deserves access to reliable, professionally produced information. Every community deserves journalists who are prepared to ask questions, check facts, attend meetings, report decisions, and give local people a voice.”
CPA acknowledged the genuine contribution technology companies have made to modern life and also recognised Google’s continued engagement with Australian news publishers with commercial agreements.
The organisation affirmed that the responsibility does not fall on one company alone though and said the final legislation must encourage genuine commercial deals and does not create an incentive for platforms to reduce, remove or downgrade access to Australian news.
“The answer cannot be for platforms to avoid responsibility by making trusted news harder to find. At a time of rising misinformation, Australians need more access to facts, not less,” said Mr Morgan.
CPA said the issue was especially important for regional, rural and local communities, where local news media is often the only professional source of verified local information.
