Dr Jim Chalmers’ (lead image) first budget has arrived, delivering a $4.2 billion surplus on the back of record tax revenues and higher gas, coal and iron ore prices.
Pundits are calling last night’s offering a win for welfare recipients and, equally, the rich who are set to get their much publicised tax cuts.
In terms of the budget and media, it appears Albo and Chalmers are committed to slashing the advertising largesse agencies enjoyed under the previous Morrison government.
As noted in the recent SMI Data numbers, Albo’s crackdown on government-funded ads is already having an impact on agencies’ bottom lines. That said, we were in the middle of a federal election this exact time last year.
A previously announced crackdown on advertising spending continues, with the budget papers noting that savings here would be spent in other areas.
Last night, almost $8 million has been promised to the Australian Communications and Media Authority to combat online misinformation and disinformation in an effort to reduce the spread of false content on global digital platforms.
Australian Associated Press were also winners, nabbing $5 million over two years to fund media literacy and support for public interest journalism and media diversity.
Australia’s national broadcasters are also leaving this budget better funded, with $6 billion going to the ABC and $1.8 billion to SBS – including $45 million dedicated to content for Chinese and Arabic-speaking communities.
However, News’ The Australian this morning (hardly noted for its fondness for the ABC) noted that the public broadcaster was getting extra cash despite not hitting its audience targets.
The budget papers show a target was set for the ABC to attract 18.3 million weekly active digital users in the 2022-23 financial year. However, this is expected to reach just 13.4 million – a shortfall of 4.9 million users, the Australian noted.
The ABC’s total revenue is budgeted at $1.13 billion in 2023-24 – up $30.4 million from 2022-23.
Staffing levels at both of the broadcasters will remain steady, with 4213 employees at the ABC in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years, while SBS will have 1352 in the same period.
The government will give additional funding to support broadcasting services in remote and First Nations communities and to initiate work to assess the state of broadcasting transmission and reception equipment in these areas.
The budget also foreshadowed moves which will have an impact on the media industry, including the collection of first party data, an essential element of fine targeting advertising.
The budget papers said: “Underpinning many new technologies is the large-scale collection of data about people, systems and services by businesses.
“These datasets are a valuable input into models that maximise consumer engagement and have enabled platforms like Amazon, Netflix and Meta to appropriate a large consumer share.
“As these datasets become an increasingly important driver of innovation, they have become products in their own right, supporting services like advertising and market research.
“However, this commercialisation of data has implications for the protection of consumer rights, privacy and security, as well as regulation of competitive markets.
“The ethical implications of increasing uses of data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence to shape consumer choices and automate business interactions are also attracting greater scrutiny. Regulatory frameworks must continue to evolve in the face of technological change, as they have done in the past.”
The budget also includes more work to minimise harm from online gambling, with more powers to ACMA. The federal government will provide funding to continue to support the National Self-exclusion Register (BetStop) and also implement a ban on the use of credit cards for online gambling, excluding for-profit and not-for-profit charitable and other lotteries.
Corporate watchdog ASIC will get $17.6 million over four years to identify and take down phishing websites and other websites which promote investment scams.
