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Morrison tells of ‘constructive’ meeting with Google’s global boss over code

Negotiations over the government’s media code has reached the highest levels, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison having a “constructive” meeting with Google’s global boss.

Feb 04, 2021, updated Feb 04, 2021
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is in the national interest to support Sydney through its lockdown. (Photo: ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is in the national interest to support Sydney through its lockdown. (Photo: ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

Google has threatened to pull its search engine from Australia if laws pass compelling companies to shell out for news content.

Morrison said Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc, raised the tech giant’s issues with the code when the pair spoke on Thursday morning.

“I was very clear about how I saw this playing out,” the prime minister told reporters in Canberra.

“They understand that Australia sets the rules for how these things operate.

“But I think we have been able to get that into a much more positive space about the ability to continue to provide services here in Australia.”

Microsoft, which owns Bing, is relishing the chance to swoop if Google abandons its monopoly on search engines in Australia.

The company says it supports the media code and supporting journalism.

Morrison hopes his talk with Pichai encourages Google to work with the government and media organisations on the code.

The prime minister also recently spoke to Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg after the tech company said it would have to remove news articles from its platform if the code was made law.

Labor supports the code’s principle but shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says the opposition wants a solution to the bitter spat between the government and tech giants.

“Once again the triumph of announcement over delivery,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“They’re still engaged in an argument with the tech platforms over an issue that the government said they would fix last year.”

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Chalmers accused Treasurer Josh Frydenberg of giving himself a pat on the back before the code had been delivered.

“Clearly the negotiations are going really badly because these threats are being made,” he said.

“It’s up to the government to clean this up. They’ve made a mess of it.”

Dr Chalmers refused to be drawn on whether Bing becoming the dominant search site would be a good outcome for Australia.

He said the result of the code needed to be good technology being available and news organisations being paid for journalism.

“There will inevitably be some changes in the market as a result of that,” the Labor MP said.

“We don’t know if various threats will be followed through on.”

The Greens are calling on the government to establish a publicly owned search engine if Google pulls out of Australia.

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