Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow minister for the question. The government have been very clear, all the way along, that we will legislate this code, as we have said—and we acknowledge the support of the opposition and of the minor parties, as manifested in the report of the Senate committee. We acknowledge the concern expressed for the objective of a vigorous news media sector by the opposition and by the minor parties.

In relation to whether Google is likely to stay in Australia or exit Australia, I think what we can conclude is that the behaviour that Google has shown in concluding the deal with Seven West Media, as disclosed by that company, and in the behaviour that we understand it's presently exhibiting in being in advanced negotiations with other Australian news media businesses, is I think, in any view, the behaviour of a company that intends to stay in this market. After all, certainly under the deal that's been announced to date, there is obviously significant value passing from Google to Seven West Media. So that is the behaviour of a company which intends to stay in this market. The government welcome the behaviour that has been demonstrated, and we have been consistent from the outset: we wish to see Google and Facebook remain in this market. That's our preference. As the Digital Platforms Inquiry itself reported, over 19 million Australians use Google every month and over 17 million Australians use Facebook. Of course, what we also expect them to do—as we expect any company to do that is doing business in Australia—is to comply with the laws passed by the duly elected parliament of Australia.

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