The Albanese government must "get its act together" and stand up a plan to push social media companies to pay for journalism by the end of the year, a newly elected Coalition MP says.
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Speaking in the House of Representatives last Tuesday, Monash MP Mary Aldred criticised Labor for dragging out its promised News Media Bargaining Incentive (NMBI), as news outlets, including ACM - publisher of this masthead - call for urgent action.
Announced in December 2024, the promised incentive would replace the Coalition-era News Media Bargaining Code, which Meta walked away from in March 2024.
Under the new proposal, large social media companies (including Meta, Google and TikTok) would pay a charge if they chose not to enter into commercial agreements with news businesses. The value of the charge is set to be determined through consultation.
Companies would get a tax rebate if they voluntarily enter into deals.
Yet while the Albanese government had promised to publish a consultation paper on the issue in early 2025, it has yet to do so.
"In triumph and tragedy, there's someone who always turns up for regional Australia, and that's the local newspaper," Ms Aldred told MPs in the lower house.
"Across towns and regions throughout Australia, the local paper weaves the threads that hold communities together.
"It shares in the triumphs, grieves in the losses and tells the stories that truly matter to everyday people."
The Monash MP accused the federal government of being "slow out of the gates in securing the future of regional journalism", despite broad industry support for the solution.
"I am calling on the government to finalise this process by the end of 2025 to ensure that Meta, TikTok and other platforms join the negotiating table in good faith," she said.
"There has never been a more important time to support our regional and local publishers. I'm calling on the federal government to get its act together and come good on commitments made which are well past their due date."
Govt says it has been 'clear about the plans' for incentive
A spokeswoman for Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino, the Minister responsible for the incentive, did not respond to questions on the consultation paper or the expected timeframe for the legislation.
"The government has been clear about the plans for the News Bargaining Incentive, and we have been consulting with stakeholders from both media and digital platforms to ensure the best outcomes for Australia," the spokeswoman said.
Mr Mulino, alongside Communications Minister Anika Wells, held a roundtable with executives from News Corp Australia, Seven West Media, ABC, Guardian Australia and Nine Entertainment on August 5, The Australian Financial Review reported.
The statement follows recent comments from US President Donald Trump that he would impose "substantial tariffs" on any country that applied digital taxes or regulations to American businesses.
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Speaking on a different round of Donald Trump's tariffs on the eve of the election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to "stand up" for media companies against the tech giants.
"I will assert Australia's position, as we have with the United States already," Mr Albanese told ABC radio on May 2.
Managing Director of ACM, Tony Kendall, said it was difficult to fathom how the News Media Bargaining Incentive "could, or should, be linked to broader tariff and trade issues".
"ACM urges the federal government to quickly release the legislative framework for the NMBI for industry consultation," Mr Kendall said in a statement.
"The proposed NMBI was announced in December last year, and its introduction is vital to the future of independent, fact-based public interest journalism.
"The proposed payments to publishers by the tech platforms are vital to the health of our media industry, yet represent a tiny fraction of the revenue and profit these organisations generate.
"Sadly, while the media industry has waited for the government to act, more journalist jobs have been lost."
Miriam Webber
Miriam Webber is a federal politics and public sector reporter, with an interest in integrity, transparency and accountability in government. She has been a member of the federal political bureau since 2023, and previously worked as the city reporter. Reach her at miriam.webber@canberratimes.com.au or miriamlwebber@proton.me
