Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about libraries and the lending rights which compensate authors every time their book is borrowed rather than bought. It's a modest but fair source of income. It was the Whitlam government that introduced lending rights for writers, and it's the Albanese government that is ensuring that the scheme is relevant and modernised. No-one could have anticipated in 1974 that readers nearly 50 years later would be increasingly accessing literature through Kindles and iPads rather than library shelves—although a government could have recognised that in the past decade.

The Albanese government has launched a National Cultural Policy, Revive, that is fit for the future, providing $12.9 million to extend lending rights to include digital content like e-books and audiobooks. It's a commonsense reform, but one that took a change of government to accomplish. We are listening to the arts community and we respect the contribution arts workers, including writers, make. Commenting on the introduction of lending rights, Gough Whitlam said: 'Governments cannot create good writing or good art, but they can create the conditions in which art and literature are more likely to flourish. They can remove unnecessary hardship and the financial anxieties that inhibit many artists and writers.' We are working hard to create conditions in the 21st century where Australian literature can flourish.