The Greens have proposed a tech tax to support traditional media while banning all gambling ads, as broadcasters seek compensation for Labor’s planned restrictions.
On Wednesday the Greens communications spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, urged Australians not to “buy Bill Shorten’s lie” that free-to-air television needed gambling ad revenue to survive, his justification for Labor’s intention to cap but not ban all gambling ads.
Hanson-Young told Guardian Australia that “profiting from the misery and addiction of gambling is not the answer” to media’s broken business model, proposing instead “a tech tax on the global giants like Meta, Google and TikTok to make them pay for the journalism and content they monetise”.
The comments come ahead of a report to be tabled on Thursday by the joint select committee on social media in an inquiry that considered Meta’s decision not to renew media funding deals.
Anthony Albanese confirmed on Thursday 8 August that the government is considering a social media levy, warning these companies shouldn’t be allowed to “essentially ride free” on the backs of traditional media.
The Albanese government is also being lobbied by media companies for a phase-in period for proposed gambling ad restrictions and compensation for the changes.
Under the Labor proposal, gambling ads would be banned online, in children’s programming, during live sports broadcasts and an hour either side, but limited to two an hour in general TV programming. The proposal would not apply to revenues generated from search, exempting search engines such as Google from larger potential impact.
With free-to-air TV and radio estimated to receive more than $200m from gambling ads, Free TV Australia is pushing for compensation including the abolition of the $50m commercial broadcasting tax on transmitter licences.
Bridget Fair, the chief executive officer of Free TV Australia, said “the gambling advertising restrictions under discussion will clearly have a significant revenue impact on commercial television broadcasters”.
“It is critical that impact is balanced by reducing other regulatory burdens on broadcasters in particular getting rid of the outdated commercial broadcast tax … tax offset support for local news production, action to address Meta’s failure to comply with the news media bargaining code and support for regional broadcasting.”
On Wednesday the Alliance for Gambling Reform announced a new shareholder activism campaign, with resolutions planned for the annual general meetings of Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media this year.
The alliance’s chief advocate, Tim Costello, said he had bought the “minimum parcel of shares” in these companies and encouraged others to do so to “get inside these companies and push for change”.
“The media companies are completely out of touch when it comes to gambling ads. Seven out of 10 Australians want gambling advertisements on TV to be banned,” he said.
“Australians lose $25bn each year to gambling, the highest per capita spend in the world.
“It’s clear that these big media companies are not going to tackle the scourge of gambling ads until they are forced to. We’ve waited too long for governments to act, so now we’re using shareholder power to take action.”
Earlier, Hanson-Young confirmed the Greens would push ahead with a plan to amend an unrelated broadcasting bill to test Labor’s position on a total ban.
On Monday Shorten said that free-to-air TV is under “massive attack” from social media such as Meta, is in “diabolical trouble” and needs gambling ad revenue “just to stay afloat”.
Hanson-Young labelled this a “furphy” and “excuse” not to enact the total gambling ad ban proposed by the bipartisan inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.
Hanson-Young said the Greens were “happy to look at” cutting the transmitter tax.
“The government has done nothing to support the sustainability of free-to-air television since they came to office … nothing but make it harder for public interest journalism to thrive in this country.
“What I want is for the government to have the guts to ban gambling advertising … tax the big tech companies and fund journalism.”
The government’s partial ban has angered health advocates, independent MPs, the Senate crossbench and its own backbench MPs.
On Wednesday senator David Pocock moved as a matter of urgency that the Senate recognise “the need for the Australian government … to implement a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling” to be phased in over three years.
