News Journalism Payments

“The principle is fair. A platform that derives its value from Australian news must help sustain it either through direct commercial agreements or by paying an incentive charge. The scheme recognises eligible good-faith agreements entered from 1 January 2025, allowing them to offset their news bargaining incentive liabilities from the commencement date. A platform can choose to pay the charge, but every dollar collected will return to the Australian news industry through the News Journalism Payment Scheme.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“The choice from here belongs to the platforms. They can sit down with Australian news businesses and reach agreements and put money into newsrooms, which is what our government wants and what these bills are built to produce, or they can decline, pay the charge and see it go to Australian journalism regardless. What is no longer available to them is the third course: taking the value of Australian news while contributing nothing toward the cost of producing it. That is a modest thing to ask of some of the largest companies in the world, and it is not a modest thing for newsrooms on the other side of it. A country that stops producing its own journalism does not stop consuming news. It consumes somebody else's news about itself produced elsewhere and accountable to nobody. It is the outcome these bills are written to avoid, and communities like mine will benefit greatly from what they seek to produce. I commend the bills to the House.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“These bills ensure stability and a secure funding pipeline for Australian journalism, supporting commercial investment and returning incentive revenue to the secure. They will help to support a dynamic and diverse Australian news industry well into the future. I commend these bills to the House.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“Governments are supposed to have their decisions scrutinised. Businesses should be scrutinised too, along with courts, councils, institutions and everyone else who exercises power in this country. For that to happen, Australia needs journalists who have the time and resources to do the work properly. Australia will be better for it. I commend the bill to the Senate.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 20 Aug 2026

“These bills ensure digital platforms that benefit from Australian news contribute to its long-term sustainability. The government's approach is practical, market based and designed to support a sustainable, diverse and independent Australian news sector. These measures build on and strengthen the world-leading news media bargaining code, which has been in place since March 2021, ensuring it remains effective in a changing digital environment.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“If, in this environment, a platform chooses to pay the charge rather than enter into commercial agreements, that money will still support Australian journalism. The News Journalism Payments Bill establishes the News Journalism Payments scheme to distribute any revenue raised through the news bargaining incentive to eligible Australian news organisations. It's also important that it puts journalists themselves at the centre of how these payments are calculated. Eligible organisations will receive payments based on the number of journalists they employ, including freelancers. That includes journalists, photojournalists, videographers, data and visual journalists, editors and producers—all those directly involved in producing core news content. The more journalists an organisation employs, the greater its payment.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“This government recognises that public interest journalism is a public good and is taking action to help build a stronger local media presence in Australia, made here in Australia by Australians, and the bill before the House serves to do just that. The government's approach is practical and allows for a market based approach designed to support a sustainable, diverse and independent Australian news sector. The measures build on and strengthen the world-leading News Media Bargaining Code, which has been in place since March 2021, ensuring that it remains effective in a changing digital environment. And it will apply a 2.5 per cent charge to Australian digital advertising revenue earned by significant search and social media services.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“Australian journalism underpins the work we do in this place. It gives people the information they need to judge us, question us and understand the decisions being made in their name. It is vital to our democracy and to who we are as a nation. Our Australian story should be told by Australian voices, Australian journalists and people who know our communities from the inside. If we want that story to survive the pull of the algorithm, we have to back the people who report it. We have to fund Australian journalism properly. That is why I'm proud to support legislation that does exactly that.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“The News Journalism Payment Scheme will support a sustainable, diverse and independent media sector, and forms part of the broad package of Bills related to the News Bargaining Incentive.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 20 Aug 2026

“The news media bargaining bills before the House represent an important step in addressing the challenge of how our media has changed. These bills are about supporting the long-term sustainability and diversity of Aussie journalism. They recognise a simple but important principle: when digital platforms derive significant value from news content, there should be a fair framework that helps support the journalism that creates that value. That's why this legislation encourages digital platforms and Australian news organisations to reach meaningful commercial agreements rather than relying solely on government intervention.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“To the digital platforms I say do the right thing and enter into commercial deals with our Aussie news publishers, and to my fellow senators I say support the bill, support commercial investment in Australian journalism and help a secure, sustainable, diverse and independent news media industry for the future.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 20 Aug 2026

“The news media bargaining incentive bills incentivise commercial agreements between digital platforms and Australian news businesses, with platforms able to reduce their liability through eligible deals rather than pay the charge. We've introduced this because we believe Australians deserve access to news that is independent, diverse and locally produced.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 20 Aug 2026

“"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:”

Liberal Party of Australia • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“This is an important step forward in remedying the very significant vacuum over the last two years. We support funding for journalism, particularly regional journalism, which is vital for our democracy. We support a framework which encourages genuine commercial agreements rather than just dependence on government funding mechanisms. We are strongly committed to supporting Australian journalism and the importance of Australian stories being told by an Australian media sector, and I do hope that this package of bills does deliver what it's intended to do.”

Liberal Party of Australia • Senator • 20 Aug 2026

“So legislation is important. It is also vital that, to enhance the legislation, we adopt the amendments put forward by the shadow communications minister. But I say again: please, we need to help our newspapers in every which way. If you can buy a local newspaper and read it, you never know what you might find in it, and if we lose them, we'll be much the poorer as a society and as country communities.”

The Nationals • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“I support these bills. The coalition built the original code, and we want a scheme that works. But passing this legislation is not the achievement. Country Press Australia have put this well. The real test is whether it translates into genuine commercial agreements across a broad and diverse Australian news industry. If in two years time the platforms have done eight deals with the eight largest media companies in the country and the Shepparton News, the Riverine Herald, the Country News, the Seymour Telegraph, the Numurkah Leader and the Cobram Courier are in exactly the position they are in today then this parliament will have passed a law and changed nothing. So we owe it to them to make sure this legislation works in a way that saves local journalism and local news organisations and allows them to continue doing what they have done—holding governments to account, holding local institutions to account, telling the stories of the people who live in regional and rural Australia and facilitating the discussion that is going to move our beautiful parts of regional and rural Australia forward.”

The Nationals • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“The coalition will not oppose these bills, but neither will we ignore their shortcomings. We are proud of the coalition's record in creating the original bargaining framework. We are disappointed that Labor took more than two years to replace it. We are determined to improve this legislation through practical amendments. Most importantly, we remain committed to preserving what really matters: a diverse media landscape, sustainable journalism, strong regional news services, thriving local voices and Australians equipped to think critically and engage actively in democratic life. Democracy depends on more than institutions. It depends on informed communities, it depends on local voices, and it depends on ensuring that Australian journalism continues to have a future.”

The Nationals • MP • 18 Aug 2026

“The coalition remains committed to ensuring that those who derive significant value from Australian news contribute fairly to its production. We support sustainable funding for journalism, particularly for regional journalism, which is vital to our democracy, and a framework that encourages genuine commercial agreements rather than depending on government funding mechanisms. While we did not back the government's original proposal, we are pleased the coalition's work in rattling the cage has delivered a strengthened news incentive scheme with an increased charge of 2.75 per cent. The objective of these bills is clear: a strong, diverse and independent Australian media sector that can continue to serve Australians for generations to come.”

Liberal Party of Australia • Senator • 20 Aug 2026

“These bills are not perfect. There are elements that I think could have gone in a way that supported more independent and smaller players. But I've been pleased to help push the government to increase access for smaller players and independent players to these funds. The other problem we have in Australia is a very concentrated media landscape. The big players—News Corp, Nine, Seven West—dominate not just our television screens but the written word, the press and our radio waves. We need to find better and more important ways to support new players and media diversity in this country. I'll be keeping a very, very close eye on how this scheme rolls out.”

Australian Greens • Senator • 20 Aug 2026

“With these amendments this bill will have a greater chance of throwing independent media a lifeline. I've put these amendments to the minister's office, and I implore the government to engage on them in good faith. This is important legislation to protect a vital part of our liberal democracy and social cohesion. I commend the bill with my proposed amendments to the House.”

Independent • MP • 18 Aug 2026