Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to follow my colleague the member for Maribyrnong. I too rise to speak on the bills before us today: the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 and the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill 2026. The coalition will support these bills because, at their core, they are sensible and practical reforms that modernise the governance and administration of longstanding programs supporting Australian authors and publishers.

Books matter. Stories matter. History matters. As someone who is passionate about promoting civics education in our schools, telling our own history in our own voices is important. The ability of Australians to record our national history, preserve local history, educate future generations and entertain readers through literature is an essential part of who we are as a nation. Public libraries and school libraries play a central role in that mission. They provide free access to knowledge and opportunity, regardless of your postcode, background or income.

While Australians rightly value free access to books, we must also recognise the work of the people who create them. Authors dedicate years to research, writing, editing and publishing, often with no guarantee of financial success. That is why public lending rights and educational lending rights are important. These schemes recognise a simple principle. When books are made freely available through libraries and educational institutions, authors and publishers should receive fair recognition and compensation for that use. The Public Lending Right Scheme has existed in legislative form since 1985. The Educational Lending Right Scheme has operated administratively for decades, including after its establishment by a coalition government in the 2000-01 budget. These bills bring both schemes into one single legislative framework for the first time. They modernise administration, improve consistency and provide greater certainty for the future operation of both programs. They are worthwhile reforms, and the coalition will support them

We must also be honest about what these bills do not do. Despite the title 'better income for authors', these bills do not increase funding for authors or publishers. They do not expand the overall funding pool, change payment calculations or deliver significantly improved financial outcomes for Australian writers. Too often this Labor government announces reforms with impressive titles only for Australians to discover the substance does not match the spin. Payments under these schemes remain capped within an annual allocation of around $28 million. Last financial year, more than 17,000 payments were made, totalling just over $28 million. That framework remains substantially unchanged in this legislation. So yes, the bills modernise governance and provide legislative certainty, but no, they are not a transformative funding package for Australian authors.

Australian authors are facing real pressures. Publishing has changed dramatically. Most recently I travelled into Melbourne to speak at a function put together by a range of publishers and authors looking at how new technology can innovate and transform the way some of that material is communicated and made available to more people across the world. The fact is that costs have risen and that global competition is intense. For many authors, writing alone is no longer enough to provide a sustainable income. For some, lending rights payments are not simply a bonus; they're an important supplementary income source that helps to make continued writing possible.

This is particularly true for historians and regional writers. I'd like to give a shout-out to Jenny Hammett. She doesn't live in my electorate. She lives next door in my good friend and colleague the member for Gippsland's electorate. She's from Traralgon, and she has dedicated countless hours to writing the history of that town and other parts of Gippsland.

I want to acknowledge several other authors whose work has made an important contribution to preserving Australian stories and our regional history. Roland Perry's work documenting General Sir John Monash has helped generations of Australians better understand one of our most significant military and nation-building figures in the history of this nation. Through authors like Roland Perry, Australians are able to engage with that legacy in a meaningful and accessible way, and it was an honour to meet Roland Perry recently at the Victorian Association of Jewish Ex and Servicemen and Women's Anzac commemoration in Melbourne. I commend Roland Perry's book on General Sir John Monash, Monash:The Outsider Who Won a War, because Roland Perry so brilliantly speaks not only of how wars were won—and many thanks to Monash's legacy—but also how Monash taught us the importance of how lives were valued on the battlefield.

On the topic of the two best books—and that's one of them—that I believe to have been written on the life and legacy of John Monash, I have to acknowledge the late, great Hon. Tim Fischer, a former member of this place and former deputy prime minister. His book, Maestro John Monash, eulogising one of our greatest Australians, someone who I believe is our greatest Australian, John Monash, is a magnificent read. I've got a photo, which I really treasure, of a very much younger me and Mr Fischer and his book on Monash in my office.

I also want to acknowledge Reverend Canon Doctor Jim Connelly OAM of Warragul, a teacher, priest, historian and storyteller of Gippsland who was once described as the conscience of Warragul. Raised in Garfield and still proudly calling Warragul home, Dr Connelly has authored 14 books, spanning children's fiction, local history and regional storytelling, all deeply connected to Gippsland. After my election, Dr Connelly sent me a signed copy of his book, Round and About in Gippsland, and it's a privilege to have that displayed with great pride in my Parliament House office. Round and About in Gippsland paints a portrait of the many towns and communities that make up our region. Mountain Boy is a powerful fiction story following a young boy with a disability who is determined to climb Mount Cannibal against the odds. Calling Gippsland Home:Famous Men and Women of Gippsland shines a light on the remarkable achievements of Gippslanders from all walks of life. Growing up in GarfieldGarfield is now slightly outside of my electorate—helps preserve the history and character of one of our region's small but very proud communities. Dr Connelly's work reflects the importance of regional storytellers in preserving local identity, community memory and the unique character of places like Gippsland for future generations.

The same can be said for John Wells and his work, Gippsland: People, a Place and their Past. That work covers the history, character and development of Gippsland and helps preserve the stories of the people and community that have helped shape our great Gippsland region. It's a book I first read over a decade ago, and it's a poignant reference of our region's history.

I also want to acknowledge Alison Lester AM, the beloved children's author and illustrator from Fish Creek in my electorate of Monash. Fish Creek is a little town in South Gippsland. Alison Lester has written and illustrated over 50 books across her 35 year career. She's a prolific Australian children's author known for over 25 picture books, including classics like Magic Beach and Are We There Yet?, as well as two young adult novels, The Quicksand Pony and The Snow Pony. Alison Lester has shaped the childhoods of generations of Australian children through stories that capture the wonder, imagination and beauty of regional Australia. Her work has received national recognition, including the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award, and deservedly so.

What makes Alison Lester's work so special is the way she tells her stories that feel unmistakeably Australian and like home. In my electorate of Monash, we're blessed with many of the magnificent landscapes that Alison Lester's storytelling captures so brilliantly—the rolling green hills, the smell of salt in the air, horses standing quietly in paddocks, winding country roads and wild southern coastlines. It's a word picture, I'm sure, Deputy Speaker Sharkie, you can associate with your own electorate as well. Alison Lester has an extraordinary ability to paint those scenes with words and illustrations. She captures not only the landscape itself but the feeling of growing up in regional Australia—the freedom, the adventure and the connection to community and nature.

I also want to acknowledge Patrick Morgan, a wonderful Gippsland historian who I first met in my 20s as a participant in the Gippsland Community Leadership Program. Australian writing is not limited to traditional historical literature, though. Modern creators such as Mastro Mayhem are engaging younger audiences in new and evolving ways, reflecting the changing nature of storytelling in Australia.

Don Watson is perhaps best known as Paul Keating's speechwriter. Among his most acclaimed speeches is, of course, the speech for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is brilliantly written. Don grew up on a dairy farm in my electorate, and many years ago he accepted my invitation to present the Gippsland Annual Leadership Address. He's a wonderful author, and I've enjoyed our conversations very much over the years.

The late, great Michael Gordon, who was an acclaimed journalist, author and member of the press gallery here, wasn't a Monash constituent, but he was a regular visitor, particularly to Phillip Island, where he tragically passed away a number of years ago. He and his father, Harry, were passionate Hawthorn supporters, like I am, and I've enjoyed very much their books on Hawthorn, including The Hard Way. I treasure a hand-signed book by Michael Gordon on Hawthorn that I have in my office. I know he was a great friend to many longer serving members in this place.

Whether documenting military history, preserving regional stories or connecting with younger generations through modern formats, Australian authors all contribute to our cultural life and deserve recognition for their work. A positive aspect of this legislation is the formal inclusion of the educational lending rights into legislation. As other speakers have referenced, this provides greater certainty, transparency and accountability. The bill will also modernise eligibility arrangements and streamline advisory committee processes. These are sensible and measured reforms.

But governance alone is not sufficient. If this parliament is serious about supporting Australian writing and Australian culture, we must also be willing to have a broader conversation around sustainability, funding and longer term support because culture cannot survive on announcements alone. It requires ongoing investment, practical support and governments willing to prioritise outcomes rather than headlines.

Libraries remain one of the great equalisers in Australian society, particularly in regional communities like mine. They are places of learning, literacy and connection. In many towns they are also vital community hubs. That is why lending rights schemes matter. We should encourage Australians to read, support strong libraries and ensure authors are appropriately recognised when their work is widely used through those systems. The coalition have consistently supported that principle—we supported those programs in government and we support them today—but we will also continue to ask whether enough is being done to genuinely support Australian authors in a rapidly changing environment. Governance reform is one part of the equation. If we truly want better income for authors, it requires more than administrative restructuring; it needs sustained commitment and practical support.

Australian authors help shape our national identity. They preserve our history, educate future generations and ensure Australian voices continue to be heard in an increasingly crowded global marketplace. That is worth supporting, that is worth valuing and that is why the coalition will support these bills. They modernise important programs and strengthen existing frameworks. But we should also be clear-eyed about their limitations. They do not significantly increase funding, they do not fundamentally change payment structures and they do not, by themselves, solve the financial pressures Australian writers are facing—and that is an important challenge to solve. It's an important challenge for young Australians; it's an important challenge for children; it's an important challenge for migrants and our multicultural communities right across Australia.

One of the greatest joys of my early 20s was volunteering to help a young migrant student with English literature as one of his VCE subjects. The way that textbooks and literature were able to capture his imagination and encourage him was a great joy for me to watch. It was just such a wonderful privilege to be able to encourage that young student, who was incredibly smart and I know had a very bright future ahead of him. So the challenge remains and we all must face up to that. I commend the bill.

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