“When you get one, I will get one. Promise.”
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Streaming giants such as Netflix and YouTube had captured $6 billion in revenue that otherwise would have gone to Australian legacy media, Stokes said.
“It’s gone to external parties which paid no tax,” he told shareholders.
“This year, we’ll probably pay less than $100,000 (in tax) because we’ve lost our profits, because it’s being taken offshore by people who don’t have any accountability and don’t pay tax in our country.”
The group’s planned merger with Southern Cross Media, a sore point with shareholders who weren’t allowed to vote on the deal, would deliver greater revenue streams, chief executive Jeff Howard assured shareholders.
“Our financial ambition is to grow the combined revenue base and find even more efficient ways of operating, in ways we can’t do on our own,” he said.
Regarding the “foreign marauders”, the group was in talks with the federal government on the media bargaining code and news bargaining incentive to ensure digital platforms contributed to Australian media sustainability.
“While discussions with the government have been constructive, we encourage them to accelerate these and other initiatives to ensure the Australian media sector operates on a level playing field with the international platforms that dominate the landscape and control many parts of the value chain,” Howard said.
The Albanese government on Tuesday announced a bill to make streamers with more than a million subscribers invest a set proportion of expenditure or revenue on new Australian content.
