Australia’s News Bargaining Incentive which the Albanese government says will force social media and technology giants to cough up for local news media will be introduced into parliament, despite industry leaders warning the changes would “gut” the scheme.
The final iteration of the News Bargaining Incentive and the News Journalism Payments Bill will be introduced to parliament on Thursday, the final day of the first week of the spring sitting period in Canberra.
The bills have changed substantially since an April draft, with further tweaks in recent weeks following consultation between Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.
Under the final version of the Bill, the tax penalty for social media and tech companies refusing to make deals with Australia media outlets will increase from 2.25 to 2.5 per cent, but would instead be applied only to digital advertising revenue attributable to Australia rather than all Australian revenue – meaning the penalties will now be lower.
Further tweaks from an earlier August draft include further raising of the minimum number of deals tech companies need to sign in order to acquit their liability from six to eight – up further still from the four proposed in April.
A 25-per cent per deal cap on the total levy will also be reinstated, which the government said would ensure “more appropriate offsets are available to Australian media organisations of all sizes”.
In the final Bill, five per cent of funds raised by the incentive will go towards the Australian Associated Press.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said Australians accessed news in different ways, and from different sources.
“Which is why we made changes to the distribution scheme to better support smaller and diverse media organisations,” she said.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said he wanted to see deals struck with “a diverse range of media organisations”.
“We also want to ensure the media sector is strengthened from large companies to small ones, recognising the significant benefits strong journalism brings to communities across the nation,” he said.
Earlier this month, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller warned the changes would “gut the incentive” for tech platforms to strike up fair deals with Australia media at a time when “rules need strengthening, not softening”.
“On an already uneven playing field, getting this wrong won’t just hurt Australian media. It will erode the quality and independence of news every Australian relies on,” he said.
“Tech giants cannot keep dodging their obligations. Australia deserves full revenue transparency, backed by severe, non-negotiable penalties for any platform that flouts local law.”
Nine Entertainment chief executive Matt Stanton warned foreign-owned tech companies already had significant influence on Australians’ lives, including how they accessed media from outlets such as Nine.
“Independent journalism plays a fundamental role in democracy, holding governments, institutions and businesses to account. In this rapidly changing world this is more important than ever,” he said.
“These significant changes, made late in this process, require closer scrutiny to ensure it continues to meet its fundamental purpose: compelling these platforms to negotiate fairly for the journalism they benefit from.”