David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all love Australian music, from AC/DC and Crowded House to King Stingray, Gordi, Gang of Youths, Mallrat, Jack River, Lime Cordiale, Lucy Sugerman and many, many others. Our nation develops some of the best artists in the world—artists that often run on a shoestring to develop their sound and their audience and, with a bit of luck, reach people across the world. Australia has an authentic sound and we should be proud of the music industry that has flourished here.

It has been a struggle for many artists, which is why we're so pleased to see the government's commitment to supporting and developing our local industry through the national cultural policy, including through the establishment of Music Australia. But I want to raise an issue that has fallen by the wayside for too long. Not many people may know that royalty payments for sound recordings on radio are capped in the Copyright Act. The ABC only needs to pay half a cent per person in our population for all music played across all of its stations. This netted artists a meagre $130,000 last year. Commercial broadcasters only need to pay one per cent of their gross revenue, which equates to just over $4 million in a year.

These royalty caps do not exist for any other type of content. It means that artists miss out on the value of their music and can't have a fair, open negotiation. It's a quirk in our copyright laws and it's time that we took a look at it. It's time to scrap the caps.