SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia will introduce laws requiring streaming platforms to invest set amounts of money in Australian content, the government said on Tuesday.
The centre-left Labor government will require the platforms to invest at least 10% of total expenditure in Australia or 7.5% of revenue to new Australian drama, children’s content, documentaries and arts and educational programmes, Arts Minister Tony Burke and Communications Minister Anika Wells said in a statement.
* Australia has local content quotas for free-to-air television but not for streaming services such as Netflix, Display+ and Amazon.
* “Since their introduction in Australia, streaming services have created some extraordinary shows,” Burke said. “This obligation will ensure that those stories – our stories – continue to be made.”
* Plans to introduce local content quotas for mostly U.S-based streamers may disrupt trade relations with the U.S., Australian media has reported.
* The government did not say how the quota options – 10% of expenditure or 7.5% of revenue – would be calculated.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Kim Coghill and Stephen Coates)
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