Labor will enact laws to protect our Local Newsagents

A NSW Labor Government will enact laws to enshrine local newsagents as the primary distribution agents for NSW Lotteries – protecting this vital sector from financial hardship and potential closures.

Around 1,500 newsagents and other small businesses including those located in the NAME region will face financial hardship and possible closure when the current Agency Protection Period expires in April.

The proposed new franchise agreement includes increasing the number of agents in the distribution network and allowing big businesses, such as the major supermarket chains, into the network; not providing any geographic or other form of exclusivity to the lottery agent; imposing expensive fit-out requirements on all lottery agents costing up to $25,000; and the sweeping of lottery agent bank accounts on multiple occasions per week, seriously disrupting cash flows.

Labor’s plan to protect local newsagents includes:

1. Enacting laws that preserve the current agency protections, until such time as the parties reach agreement on new terms;
2. Continuing to restrict outlets selling lottery products to newsagencies and other small businesses; and
3. Working with local newsagents and the private operator to ensure a sensible commercial arrangement is established that is fair to all parties. 

Local newsagents are the lifeblood of our town centres and shopping villages but their future is at risk if a fair agreement is not negotiated for the distribution of lottery products.

Newsagents provide vital community services and have been the training ground for thousands of young people for many years to get their first job experience – that deserves to be protected.

Income from lotteries is around 40 per cent of turnover in a local newsagency and can reach as high as 90 per cent – any loss of that business would place our local newsagents in financial jeopardy.

Over the last few months, I’ve been visiting local newsagents and listening to their concerns that their future is bleak if action is not taken to protect them. 

A Labor Government will take action and put in place laws that will ensure that local newsagent remain the primary distributor for NSW lotteries.

The agency protection period that is due to expire in April would be extended until the parties concerned can sit down and hammer out a fair agreement that allows the private operator to grow the business but retains newsagents as the primary distributor.

I’m calling on the Liberals to stand up for our small businesses and demand that the Baird Liberal Government commit to match Labor’s policy to protect local newsagents.