Tech levy limbo
While Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones wasn’t a major government figure, his role in shaping the big tech levy adds an interesting wrinkle to his departure.
Stephen Jones wasn’t exactly a heavyweight player in the Albanese government. But the Assistant Treasurer's departure is still significant on at least two levels. It feeds growing perceptions of instability in federal Labor and adds another layer of uncertainty to the government’s big tech levy.
The 59-year-old veteran MP was thrust into the forefront of geopolitics and big tech last year when he was tasked with responding to Facebook owner Meta’s decision to pull out of funding deals worth roughly $70 million annually to Australian news publishers.
Jones only took on the role because Treasurer Jim Chalmers recused himself from the process due to his wife’s employment with News Corp — a decision some within the Labor Party still feel was unnecessary.
As Capital Brief reported this week, Jones confirmed that Australian government officials, including representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, proactively briefed members of Donald Trump’s transition team in December about Labor’s plans to salvage the funding through a new levy on tech giants.
