Authors and publishers condemn push to repeal parallel import restrictions and say there will be fewer Australian titles

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The federal government should move to make books cheaper in the next year and save Australians about $25m annually, the Productivity Commission believes, but the move is fiercely resisted by authors and some publishers who say it will mean fewer Australian titles will be available.

The recommendation to repeal parallel import restrictions – made for the eighth time – is part of its latest report to government on intellectual property arrangements, made public on Tuesday.

Australian booksellers cannot buy stock from lower-priced suppliers overseas, which means they are at a competitive disadvantage.

Australians who cannot buy books online also end up paying higher prices, the commission says.

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“No fewer than eight past reviews, including by the commission, and most recently by the Harper competition policy review, have recommended that prohibitions on parallel imports be repealed,” it said.

Responding to what the commission described as “false claims”, it compared more than 1,000 like-for-like titles sold in the UK and Australia, as well as 400 sold in Australia and the US.

“Over three-quarters of the books in the sample were more expensive in Australia than the UK, with Australian prices around 20% higher,” it found.

“Under reasonable assumptions regarding discounting and freight costs, the commission estimates the benefits to Australians from repealing the restrictions could be around $25m per year.”

The commission rejected arguments from the publishing industry that changes would result in the demise of local publishing and harm authors, describing them as unconvincing.

“No new evidence was presented in this inquiry that overturns the existing case for removing the restrictions,” it said.

The federal government supports the repeal of the restrictions on the back of the previous Harper review, but Labor plans to oppose the changes to the Copyright Act.

The Australian author Richard Flanagan described the report as predictable, and as a 1980s ideology in search of a victim.

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“The Productivity Commission is like a deranged hairdresser insisting their client wears a mullet wig,” he said.

“At this time of economic difficulty I hope the government rejects the report and seeks to help the book industry, its 20,000 strong workforce, and the creators who bring Australia global goodwill, pay taxes, and effectively receive no direct taxpayer subsidy.”

His view was shared by the author Thomas Keneally, who urged his “old friend” the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to make it a bipartisan matter.

“Comparison with New Zealand, which has done away with [parallel import restrictions], shows the book prices there are no cheaper,” he said. “But the range, oh the range! It is gone.”

President of the Australian Publishers Association, Louise Adler, accused the commission of ignoring more than 400 expert submissions in response to its draft report.

“These proposals risk Australia’s ability to publish great Australian stories by the next generation of talent,” she said.

“Imagine an Australian childhood without books like Diary of a Wombat, Possum Magic, the Treehouse series, or great Australian writing like Cloudstreet and True History of the Kelly Gang.”