Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

I want to speak to Senator Hanson-Young's amendment very quickly. We're aware that the bill's been introduced and amended by the government in the context of these negotiations with digital platforms and news media that we've been seeing. We've seen reports that the Prime Minister himself has been sending signals to the platforms as part of these negotiations and that the Treasurer and minister have been involved in a range of those discussions. We would note that neither our shadow minister nor our party has been in the room or at the table, and we are very conscious that ad hoc amendments can impact the balance of negotiations that the government is undertaking.

We also note that there are a host of other matters and concerns in relation to this bill that have been raised by stakeholders that have not been addressed. We've had some discussion about those in the context of the Press Council already—SBS, ABC and Free TV. We appreciate the sentiment of this amendment, but we do not regard that the amendment cures the uncertainty around designation at all. In that context, we note the minister's advice to the chamber and therefore oppose the amendment.