Overview
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor agreed on Wednesday to reinstate a 25% cap on any single payment and to raise the minimum number of mandated deals per platform to eight.
- The final bill, to be introduced to parliament on Thursday, applies a 2.5% charge to tech firms’ Australian advertising revenue with credits for voluntary commercial deals and aims to channel up to about $250 million to news organisations.
- Five per cent of funds collected under the incentive will be reserved for the Australian Associated Press to support public-interest text, photo and video services.
- Major publishers including News Corp and Nine pushed back against earlier late changes that would have reduced large outlets’ shares, while tech companies such as Meta have previously warned they may block news rather than pay.
- If passed by the Senate, the law will increase pressure on platforms to negotiate deals, broaden payments to smaller and regional publishers, and could prompt renewed trade and legal disputes with overseas tech companies.