Update on Aussie Publishing

If, like me, you've been wondering what happened to the Productivity Commission's report on the parallel importation of books, the Australian Society of Authors' press release below might help. Sounds as though politics, national conferences and political working groups might be working for the *good* guys. Somebody slap me.

31 July 2009

The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) welcomes yesterday’s resolution of the ALP National Conference “that the Government should give priority to encouraging Australians to keep on buying Australian books and to maximising the economic, cultural and creative viability of Australian literature and Australian book industries”.

The ASA rejects completely the illogical and unfounded research promoted by the Productivity Commission in its recent report on the parallel importation of books, and looks forward to the determinations of the Working Group that the National Conference has set up to consider the report and recommend actions to relevant Ministers.