The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance welcomes the Prime Minister's support for Australia's screen industry and the News Media Bargaining Code in his remarks today responding to President Trump's decision to impose 10% tariffs on Australian exports to the US.
"The next federal government must mandate local content quotas for streaming services, requiring 20% of revenue derived from Australian audiences to be invested back into the production of Australian content, if they want to make sure Australians can see their stories on our screens and support the workers who bring these stories to life." said MEAA Chief Executive Erin Madeley.
MEAA notes that US cultural and technology companies operate in Australia on very beneficial terms. The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement contains specific clauses which significantly restricts the ability for the Australian Government to support our cultural industries. The Free Trade Agreement froze local content rules at 2005 levels and implemented 'standstill' and 'ratchet' clauses, meaning that content quotas could not be increased.
This puts chains on Australia's screen industry while American screen companies are free to use their wealth and power to dominate what we see on our screen. It is time the Australian government reviewed this agreement and commit to ensuring that all future Trade agreements contain a broad-based cultural exception.
Big tech companies like Meta and Google have profited from using the work of Australia's journalists to attract audiences and generate advertising revenue. The News Media Bargaining Code provides a mechanism for a modest form of compensation for the free use of journalistic work. MEAA supports the proposed reforms of the News Media Bargaining Code, and it is imperative that any revenue generated from agreements formed under the Code is invested back into public interest journalism.
US AI companies too, operate in a largely regulation-free environment in Australia. These companies have been shown time and time again to be stealing the work of artists, journalists, writers and musicians to develop their technology without being held to account. Australia needs comprehensive AI laws to regulate AI developers and provide fair payment to creative and media workers. MEAA supports the implementation of a comprehensive AI Act, a levy on AI developers to pay for the work that is being used to train AI and laws to reserve copyright for human-made works.
