Opened the debate
Wells argued that the bill addresses the imbalance in bargaining power between digital platforms and news publishers by incentivising commercial deals. The proposed News Journalism Payment Scheme would distribute any revenue raised from the News Bargaining Incentive to eligible organisations based on the number of journalists employed. Wells highlighted that payments would include a twenty per cent increase for regional, remote, and small to medium publishers to address specific financial pressures. The bill also allocates five per cent of revenue to a grants program for start-ups and small publishers, and another five per cent to the Australian Associated Press to support its wholesale news service.