The Association has told Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that the recommendations “fly in the face” of good economic management and are opposed by a myriad of organisations including book printers, publishers, authors, the trade union movement – and all State Premiers and Chief Ministers.
Philip Andersen, CEO of Printing Industries, says he has written to Kevin Rudd and politicians on all sides of parliament highlighting the absurdity of the recommendations and citing the negative experience in New Zealand, the only other English speaking country to have ended territorial copyright.
Andersen says, “The evidence since 1998 shows that book prices did not fall. Instead fewer New Zealand books are being published relative to the trend in other English-speaking countries and publishers have rolled back their infrastructure.”
He continues, “This failed experiment had such a detrimental impact on the New Zealand book industry that the representative bodies of both authors and publishers in New Zealand forwarded submissions to the Productivity Commission review urging the maintenance in Australia of the existing parallel import arrangements.”
Andersen also says that the Productivity Commission had itself acknowledged that the copyright changes introduced in 1991, and specifically the introduction of the 30-day rule, had helped boost demand for local printing.
He told Mr Rudd that the Australian book printing industry had invested significantly in equipment, facilities and training since that time and had done much to improve its environmental responsiveness – a major differentiating factor between Australian and overseas manufacturers.
Andersen says, “If the Productivity Commission recommendations are implemented it will represent a mindless destruction of a thriving, creative industry without a skerrick of evidence of any offsetting national benefits and must be completely rejected by your Government.
“Unfortunately the Commission’s recommendations not only show its total disconnection from the real world but also a disconnect from its own inquiry process. The overwhelming majority of submissions forwarded to the inquiry by authors, publishers, book printers and their representative bodies as well as the trade union movement, supported the retention of the existing arrangements.”
Printing Industries has asked Mr Rudd for a meeting with senior Ministers and himself to discuss the matter in detail.
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