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Frydenberg urges Labor to negotiate with Zuckerberg over media deal
By Jessica Yun
Former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has urged the Albanese government to take a more direct and personal approach in negotiating with Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg over the social media giant’s commercial deals with Australian news publishers.
Frydenberg, who as treasurer installed the news media bargaining code three years ago during the pandemic, said Meta’s decision to pull out of its agreements with news organisations would leave a “billion-dollar black hole in public interest journalism”. Now chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia, Frydenberg also echoed the comments of another former Coalition treasurer, Nine chair Peter Costello, who on Monday said the media faced an “existential moment”.
Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, now the chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia, on Tuesday.Credit: Michael Quelch
“You need to talk to the heads of these organisations,” Frydenberg told the Australian Financial Review’s business summit in Sydney on Tuesday.
Brokering the deal involved “a lot of one-on-one” conversations, he added. “I was able to negotiate with Zuckerberg and [Google chief] Sundar [Pichai] to get these deals.
“I really hope the deal can get done one way or another, Google stays at the table and it becomes a win-win for Australia.”
Google and Meta signed a series of deals with media companies in 2021 to pay about $250 million a year for their news content, but many of the agreements are due for renewal and the news providers want the government to maintain pressure for a commercial outcome.
Frydenberg helped smooth over tense talks between Meta and Google and Rod Sims, the then chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), regarding a new federal code that required the technology giants to pay for Australian media content.
Nine, the owner of this masthead, is among those to have a commercial deal with Meta, alongside Guardian Australia, the ABC, Seven West Media, News Corp, Network 10, Australian Community Media and others.
Most of Google’s agreements have five-year terms while Meta struck three-year agreements that are due to expire this year. The social media behemoth announced at the start of this month it would not renegotiate its 13 commercial deals.
A government spokesperson said: “The government has publicly and privately made our position to Meta very clear: Australian news media businesses should be fairly remunerated for news content used on digital platforms.
“We are seeking advice from Treasury and the ACCC as we consider our next steps, and will continue to engage with news businesses through this process.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this month rebuked Meta over its most recent position, and said his government would “consider what options we have available”.
“It is absolutely critical that the media is able to function and be properly funded,” Albanese said on March 1.
“The idea that one company can profit from others’ investment, not just investment in capital but investment in people, investment in journalism, is unfair. That’s not the Australian way.
“We will consider what options we have available and we will talk to the media companies as well.”
Meta’s decision has prompted criticism from the industry and politicians, and Costello on Monday described the situation as “quite an existential moment for Australian media”.
About two-thirds of the $200 million in revenue provided to media companies under the code is covered by Google.
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