COMMENTARY--Will the proposed free trade agreement with the US require Australia to initiate the local equivalent of Canadian content laws?
Economic modelling for a proposed bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and the US suggests economic benefits for both Australia and the US. Welfare (measured by real household consumption) and production (measured by GDP) would rise. Over the next 20 years, the stream of benefits in net value terms from dropping trade barriers between Australia and the US is estimated at $9.9 billion for Australia and $10.3 billion for the US. The largest gains for Australia would be in the sugar and dairy industries: the largest gains for the US would be in the manufacturing sector.
But what about cultural products? What might be the likely impact of a free trade agreement with the US on the interactive media and digital content industries?
I believe the impact would be negative for the industry. Unless specific arrangements are made to exempt Australian content in its many forms across many platforms, an FTA almost inevitably means less direct support from the government for the Australian content industry to compete globally, and more cultural imports from the US.
If cultural products and services become part of an FTA, it may limit the government's ability to provide support for specific cultural projectsââ,¬"such as the funding made available for the new media funds at the Australian Film Commission and the Australia Council for the Arts or for the development of digital educational resources under the multi-million dollar Learning Federation (SOCCI) project. With development and distribution of Australian digital products for the domestic and global entertainment and educational markets becoming a major focus for Australian developers, it would be ironic if these endeavours were threatened by an FTA that allowed the importation of more and cheaper competing US products into the Australian market.
An FTA might also limit the government's commitment to the recommendations made in the recent report from its Broadband Advisory Group (BAG). The BAG recommended that the government give high priority to stimulating the digital content industries in Australia, through supporting research and development in the application and design of interactive broadband technologies and content. This of course means setting policies and providing financial assistance (either through project based funding and/or R&D and tax concessions) that could well be jeopardised by a bilateral agreement whose terms prohibited any preferential treatment for Australian based companies.
It's hardly as if the US is suffering under the current arrangements. United States culture and companies already dominate the Internet and other forms of digital delivery for news, information, and entertainment. The majority of Internet users, sites, and traffic are US based with approximately two thirds of all Internet page views by Australians to US sites and less than one third to Australian sites. Of the top 10 most popular sites accessed by Australians, approximately seven are to US-based sites and three to Australian sites.
This makes the notion of an increase in cultural imports from the USA positively frightening. If we lose our ability to sustain and develop our own distinctly Australian cultural resources, we lose one of the few unique products that we have to offer in a global marketplace. We might as well graciously offer ourselves up as the next US state.
A number of arts and cultural organisations, including AIMIA, have made submissions to the government urging them to exempt cultural (including digital content) products and services from the FTA negotiating table. Each has its own particular agenda but all urge the government to ensure that negotiations do not end with Australia undermining our own content industries by allowing US multinationals to dictate how when and where our digital content is produced and distributed.
Lynne Spender is Special Projects Manager of the Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA)ââ,¬"a professional association for creators and developers of digital content. AIMIAcan be contacted on 02 8256 1713.
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