Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

What is the process for a small or a regional publication if, after this legislation passes today, they are not able to even get in the room with Facebook, get a call back or an email back? I mean, I must say, I've spent months now working on this issue with a number of small and independent publishers, and their constant frustration has been the inability to even get around the table with a number of these tech giants. Facebook in particular has been by far the worst when it comes to its attitude towards Australian publishers, particularly the smaller players, refusing to even get back to them, to answer their calls and their queries, let alone sit around the table and have a genuine negotiation.

This legislation is meant to try and give a bit more fire power to these publishers in this exchange, in this process of negotiation. I'd just like to know what happens if Facebook still refuses to contact, sit around the table or behave in a fair and decent manner, particularly with small publishers? I'm not worried about the big players; they will look after themselves—they already are. I'm worried about making sure there is a genuine line of communication and good faith between these tech giants and the small publishers, who, let's be honest, are the ones that really do deliver the local news, the information to their communities and who curate it sometimes in a narrow way but give a very significant contribution to their audiences and their readers.