23rd Feb 2021, 6:59 PM – Senate Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021 - Second Reading - Public interest journalism

The majority voted in favour of an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This means that the text below will be added to the end of the usual motion. This doesn't have any legal consequences, but is significant because it represents the will of the Senate.

Motion text

At the end of the motion, add: ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) Australia has one of the most concentrated media markets in the world,

(ii) since the Government's changes to media law in 2017, there have been alarming contractions and warning signs of market failure in Australia's media landscape, and

(iii) the Bill was introduced 18 months after the ACCC delivered the Final Report of the Digital Platforms Inquiry in June 2019 and does not address all of the ACCC's recommendations to support public interest journalism; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) do more to support public interest journalism in Australia as a matter of urgency,

(ii) deliver a support and transition package to assist news media publishers unduly negatively impacted as a consequence of this Bill, and

(iii) make appropriate provision to ensure the viability of AAP newswire as a matter of priority".