Seven's Anthony De Ceglie is calling on the government to scrap the Commercial Broadcasting Tax (CBT) and introduce a rebate for the costs of producing news and current affairs.
The Seven Network director of news and current affairs and Seven West Media editor-in-chief will deliver a speech to the Melbourne Press Club this afternoon, saying the "evil forces" of social media platforms such as X and Facebook have "only one true antidote" - the news.
"In a world where the proliferation of misinformation has never been worse, our role as journalists has never been more important. We are the shining light on the hill in an increasingly dystopian world of conspiracy theorists and deepfakes and anti-vaxxer cookers," he says in an excerpt of the speech acquired by AdNews.
De Ceglie says the government – "who tells voters so often of their fears about social media" – needs to realise the value of news and "bloody well give a helping hand to the journalism that fights for facts".
"The government needs to stop treating Australia’s news stations with disdain," his speech says.
"The government acts like newsrooms are still bathing in the rivers of gold. It does this at a high cost and a high risk to journalism and the Australian democracy.
"Free to air networks like Channel 7 still pay an archaic broadcast tax that was designed sixty years ago during an era of super profits that simply no longer exist. The so-called CBT is actually just a tax on journalism, a tax on the truth and it’s a tax on facts."
The cost of the CBT, also known as spectrum fees, will be a combined $45 million for stations like Seven, Nine and 10 this financial year.
Free TV CEO Bridget Fair told AdNews recently that the industry body has consistently called for the removal of spectrum fees and although the government of the day committed to reviewing the tax within five years when it was introduced, this has never happened.
“While the issue has resurfaced in the context of the discussion around the impact of the gambling advertising restrictions, there is a strong case for repeal of this unjustifiable tax, independent of the current debate," she said.
TV networks reportedly met with communications minister Michelle Rowland in August to ask that spectrum fees be eliminated if a gambling advertising ban is implemented.
Spectrum fees were introduced in 2017 to replace broadcast licence fees and are charged by the government for the use of frequency spectrum for commercial broadcasting.
De Ceglie says that no other comparable jurisdiction in the world places tax burdens of this kind on broadcasters.
"Licence fees paid by Australian broadcasters are now the highest in the world at 52 times more than the equivalent per capita charge on our US peers," his speech says.
"Make no mistake, I am using today’s speech to call on the Albanese Government and the Dutton Opposition to vow to scrap the Commercial Broadcast Tax immediately in the name of journalism.
"The Government must also immediately investigate a rebate for the costs of producing news and current affairs. They already have a rebate for the production of Australian dramas like Home and Away and for Australian documentaries.
"The government has already decided that it’s so important to have this local content for our national psyche that is should be subsidised. I would argue that it’s even more important to safeguard the future of Australian news."
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