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Bill Shorten pledges Labor support for Australian book publishers

Bill Shorten chats to staff at Ligare Printing in Sydney
 

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has joined publishers and writers led by authors Thomas Keneally and Anna Funder in slamming a Productivity Commission push to scrap all restrictions on book imports by the end of next year.

Addressing employees at Ligare Printing, part of the OPUS Group, he said the recommendation by the Productivity Commission would open up the publishing market for a flood of overseas editions of new titles by Australian authors, which could destroy the competitive edge of local firms and jeopardise hundreds of jobs. There are currently around 1,000 businesses in the $2 billion publishing industry directly employing 4,000 people.

At present, local publishers have 14 days after the official publication date of an Australian book to supply local retailers with bulk copies, a period in which the booksellers are not allowed to source the book from overseas. This stops an initial flood of imports and is crucial to giving local publishing firms a solid financial base to encourage a thriving and diverse range of specialist Australian books and their authors.

Famed author Thomas Keneally proclaimed, “It will destroy the seventeenth largest book market in the world – an employer of thousands of Australians – all for the sake of economic orthodoxy.” 

Shorten said Labor is committed to ensuring that Australia has a vibrant local book industry. “That means ensuring we support Australian authors, publishers and booksellers to continue to create local content for Australian audiences.

“We believe the removal of parallel import restrictions would cause significant damage to our local book industry, just as it did in New Zealand. As strong supporters of the arts – and our local book industry – we cannot stand by and let that happen.”

The Opposition Leader was accompanied by MPs Tony Burke and Mark Dreyfus, while Rebecca Mason attended on behalf of Printing Industries Association of Australia.

The Australian Publishers Association, Print Industries Association of Australia, Australian Society of Authors, the Copyright Agency and the Copyright Council have also condemned the PC report.

Apart from Ligare in NSW, other major sites vulnerable if the import floodgates were opened include Griffin Press in South Australia and McPhersons in Victoria.

Father of the Chapel at Griffin Press, David Bradbury, said if the Australian book-buying public were made aware of the implications of the PC’s proposal, no one would support it.

“Without the grace period, there would be nothing to stop imports of three to four containers of books printed overseas and it would devastate us and our friends interstate,” he said. “This has to be defeated as it was the last time it was proposed.”

 
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