History-making feat for grand milestone

It's rare, possibly unheard of, that our famous May Racing Carnival wasn't front and centre on Wednesday's page one. There was a good reason.

Regional newspaper companies, including ACM which owns this masthead, are asking for urgent federal government help in the face of an existential crisis brought about by a dramatic rise in the cost of newsprint.

Proprietors have known for some time Australia's only newsprint manufacturer was planning to increase prices and had factored in a 30 per cent jump in the cost of paper.

What they could not prepare for was an actual increase of 80 per cent.

This is why ACM, in conjunction with the Country Press Association, has appealed to the Communications Minister Paul Fletcher for emergency funding to soften the immediate impact of the new pricing structure.

While Mr Fletcher is yet to accede to the request, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has spoken out in support of regional newspapers, saying they play a vital role in the lives of the communities they serve and need to be protected.

Although the federal government is already considering recommendations for assistance to regional and community mastheads following the recent parliamentary inquiry into regional newspapers, there are fears this may come too late.

Labor's communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland and leader Anthony Albanese have already flagged bipartisan support for an immediate positive response.

The CPA and ACM want urgent intervention in the form of emergency funding to stop mastheads, some of which have served their communities for up to 150 years, from falling off a cliff. Longer term assistance, based on the recommendations to the parliamentary inquiry, would then provide a bridge to a more sustainable future.

Key recommendations from ACM to the inquiry included tax concessions for newsprint purchases, tax rebates for local businesses that advertise in their community masthead and a minimum spend by the federal government on advertising in regional print media. Ms Rowland said "news deserts" were already emerging.

According to a report released by the ACCC in 2019, there were already 21 local government areas which were not covered by a single newspaper. That has jumped to 31 LGAs since the start of the pandemic.

This latest blow could not have come at a worse time for a trusted media sector that has already been decimated by droughts, bushfires, the pandemic and floods over the past five years. With price rises to take effect on July 1, time is short. Unless a rescue package is developed soon it may be too late for some communities to save their paper.

That said, our new website will launch late Tuesday night, so you can expect a fresh look. The website has been designed with mobile devices in mind and those infuriating log-in issues should be a thing of the past, I'm told. More on that next week.

Back to the carnival. How fitting that in the 150^th anniversary year of the Grand Annual Steeplechase that history was made. Winslow's Ciaron Maher etched his name into the record books when he trained his sixth winner of the Grand Annual since 2010. No other trainer in the event's rich history had trained more than five. Heberite's win came in just his second steeplechase start. It came after Maher, with help from his brother Declan, also won the Galleywood Hurdle on Wednesday, giving him two of the three feature jumps races at the carnival. Warrnambool's Symon Wilde won the Brierly Steeplechase on Tuesday making it a week to remember for the locals. Our thoughts are with Will Gordon, the jockey who guided Wilde's Vanguard to the Brierly win, who was flown to The Alfred hospital with horrible injuries after falling from the saddle in the Grand Annual.

There was plenty of colour and fashion at the carnival, here's the day three picture gallery to check out.

It was a big news week away from the track with first Warrnambool City Council releasing its draft budget for the next financial year and then Moyne Shire doing the same. Sandwiched in between the two was the state budget, which provided some joy - a big upgrade at Camperdown's Merindah Lodge aged care facility, new facilities at Grasmere Primary School and improvements at Hampden Special School's Cobden campus.

There's been plenty of interesting stories to come out of Warrnambool's draft budget, a proposed fee for those home owners who use their investment properties as holiday rentals, talk of a revamped AquaZone, which prompted one councillor to call for action, and an allocation to kick-start planning for the future of the city's existing library which will be relocated later in the year.

Don't forget to jump on our Facebook page on Sunday night from 6pm for the livestream of our federal election forum, which is being staged in conjunction with FitzMedia.

Don't forget to check out some of the other stories that made headlines this week, below.

Until next week,

Greg Best, editor, The Standard