Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

My apologies, Mr Deputy Speaker. In December 2004 there was an inquiry into copyright legislation. So what is the answer now? We are going to another inquiry—another inquiry by the so-called champions of entrepreneurism who want to be able to basically have all these reviews while Australian companies and Australian firms are completely squeezed out.

The opponents of safe harbours point out that this is all for Google. That is what they say—this is all for Google; this is for some big multinational corporation; it is not about local artists. Well, there are other big organisations like News Corp that are also supporting no move on safe harbours. They are opposed to safe harbours. I have seen News Corp rail against Google. They have written all those columns in the newspapers—I saw one in The Australian the other week—saying how bad Google is. If they do not like Google, they should get their systems administrators in News Corp to ban access to Google—stop every one of their journalists using Google. Stop them right now. If they believe that what Google is doing is wrong, they should stop using them right now. In fact, Google would not emerge in the Australian context. Why? Because our copyright laws would not allow them to. The only reason we access Google here is because of the benefit of a copyright regime on the other side of the Pacific. That is why we access Google—not because Australia allows it. If Google tried to set up service here, they would have their pants sued off them. If News Corp do not like Google, they can stop their journalists using them—stop them right now. But this is not about Google—this is about Australian firms. How is it that those opposite do not have the wit or wisdom to work out a way to help Australian firms? Google and News Corp can look after themselves. I am here talking about Redbubble, I am here talking about Envato, I am here talking about 99designs—I am here talking about Australian entrepreneurs providing artists with incomes and this country with jobs.

The failure of the Turnbull government to deliver on this shows that they are all talk on innovation but they are not there when needed. The start-up community was there for the Turnbull government. The Turnbull government has refused to be there on the big policy issues for all those companies in StartupAUS. Their national science and innovation agenda is collapsing on itself like a deflated balloon. We have never heard any of these ministers take on the ACCC as they have started to shake down start-ups and the acquisition of start-ups by bigger businesses. It is just nuts that they have not done so. They have hardly raised a peep about the ATO impacting on R&D incentives for software development while the ATO has been spooking the start-up sector. And now the safe harbour. Four failures in terms of innovation by those opposite—you have stuffed the NBN, you have stuffed up digital transformation, you have stuffed up your innovation agenda, and our firms, Australian firms, are paying for it. It is not good enough.

This bill can be supported, but the government has to be condemned for what is not in the bill.

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