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Fair News Bargaining Bill In Limbo As Minister Says It Is Not Ready
Giles Dexter, Political Reporter
The government has pushed out the second reading of the Fair News Digital Bargaining Bill, because the minister responsible says it is not ready.
The legislation would force tech giants, such as Google or Meta, to strike deals with New Zealand media firms for using their content.
It was supposed to have its second reading on Wednesday, but on the final order paper appeared at 13th, meaning it was effectively postponed for the week.
Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said the government was still working on the bill, and it was not ready to come back to the House.
"It was on, but we've re-arranged our timing. It's not quite ready yet, and when we are ready, we'll bring it into the House," he said.
When asked what the specific reasons were behind the bill no longer being ready, Goldsmith told reporters not to read too much into it.
"The specifics are that it'll be in the House when it's ready, and it's not ready at the moment."
Goldsmith has been meeting with media and tech companies throughout the development of the bill.
In October, Google set out its opposition to the bill, even threatening to stop linking to New Zealand news content entirely and discontinuing its commercial agreements with news publishers.
The minister would not say whether his meetings with various media companies and tech companies had changed his position on the bill.
"We're working our way through that, there's a wide variety of things, we're balancing different interests and rights, and when we've landed on a position where we're ready to bring it back to the House, we will."
The bill was initially introduced by the previous Labour government. The current government eventually agreed to progress it, but with some changes.
One of the key changes would be giving the minister the power to decide which digital platforms were covered by the bill.
Goldsmith did not plan to take up the select committee's recommendation to explicitly define artificial intelligence in the bill.
On Wednesday, he said the government was always going to make changes to the bill as it was originally drafted.
"I've said all along it's a difficult, complex issue and we're working our way through it. I don't pretend for a moment it's a simple issue," he said.
ACT has invoked the agree to disagree clause in the coalition agreement and will not support the bill.
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