Coalition mulls US free trade deal risks over streaming quotas
The Albanese government streaming quotas face scrutiny in the Senate, and potentially an inquiry, following a tepid response from the Coalition, Greens and at least one independent.
The Coalition is not ruling out an inquiry into Labor's landmark streaming legislation, amid ongoing industry concerns the plan could contravene Australia’s free trade deal with the US.
Opposition arts spokesman Julian Leeser told Capital Brief that ongoing streaming industry concerns over whether the legislation introduced to parliament this month would breach Australia’s US free trade deal and any other “unintended consequences” warrant “scrutiny”.
Under the legislation, global streaming platforms including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video will be required to invest at least 10% of their total Australian expenditure, or 7.5% of their revenue, in new local drama, children’s, documentary, arts and educational programs.
“We cautiously welcome this legislation, which comes almost four years after the Coalition first put the issue on the table,” Leeser told Capital Brief in a statement, emailed in response to questions that included whether the opposition would send the policy to committee for further review.
