Technology will lower book prices: Tanner

James Riley
Sunday, 15 November 2009 14:37

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has defended the Rudd Government's record on micro-economic reform in the wake of its continued protection of the book publishing industry, pointing to the telecommunications reforms currently before the Parliament as a huge and challenging undertaking.

Equally, Mr Tanner said the Government commitment to build a national broadband network was evidence of its reformist credentials.

The Government has come under fire over its decision to ignore Productivity Commission recommendations to lift protectionist tariffs for the book publishing industry. The Commission argued the changes would lead to cheaper prices for consumers.

Government has said technology changes related to eBooks and other online tools would inevitably lead to lower prices anyway.

"The key thing we had in mind is that we are in the early stages of being hit by huge technological change," Mr Tanner told the Ten Network's Meet the Press.

"Electronic books, a much larger proportion of the population using services like Amazon and the Book Depository. Those are the kind of things that will put downward pressure on prices."

Mr Tanner said it was too difficult to know precisely what the impacts would be, but said the book publishing sector was likely to undergo a similar phenomenon that has been experienced by CDs and iPods in the music industry.

He dismissed criticism from former Labor Finance Minister Peter Walsh – who has called the Prime Minister an "economic illiterate" – saying Government has understand serious reform in areas that are "pretty unsexy" and don't hit the headlines.

At the top of the reform agenda has been the telecommunications industry changes, which have been passed by the House and are expected to be debated in the Senate in the next two weeks.

"The reform of telecommunications through both the establishment of the national broadband network and the creation of a genuine level playing field competitive market are huge microeconomic reform initiatives," Mr Tanner said.

"We're looking at lots of tough, challenging things."