Portfolio — 28 April 2026

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino led with the government's most significant media-sector intervention in years, releasing draft legislation for a News Bargaining Incentive that would compel large digital platforms to either negotiate commercial deals with eligible news publishers or pay a revenue-based charge, with the proceeds returned directly to the news media sector [TA-260428-infras-ab01efd8c011:m132880 TA-260428-treasu-382efe2af9c0].

The government frames the NBI as a modernisation of the existing News Media Bargaining Code, with the stated aim of sustaining a diverse and independent Australian journalism sector [TA-260428-infras-ab01efd8c011:m132880 TA-260428-treasu-382efe2af9c0]. The cross-portfolio weight attached to this measure is visible in its release: both an Infrastructure-Transport media release and a Treasury joint release were issued on the same day, an unusual coordination signal that reflects the policy's dual Communications and Treasury ownership.

In a televised interview, Mulino ranged beyond the NBI to address two further policy areas. On tax reform, he nominated intergenerational fairness, equity, simplicity, and economic efficiency as the government's guiding principles for any review — language that leaves headroom on capital gains tax settings and inflation-linked adjustments without committing to specific changes [TA-260428-treasu-cc303456824f].

On fuel security, he indicated the government remains open to additional on-shore storage measures and will consider a range of options, including the Opposition's proposal to double domestic storage capacity [TA-260428-treasu-cc303456824f]. The reference to falling domestic refinery numbers and international supply nodes such as Singapore in that same interview signals Mulino is engaging with the structural dimension of the fuel-security debate, not just the storage headline.

Taken together, the day's output shows Mulino operating across three distinct policy fronts — media regulation, tax design, and energy security — with the NBI announcement as the primary set piece. The simultaneity of the Infrastructure-Transport and Treasury releases on the NBI is the clearest indicator of where the government is investing cross-portfolio political capital.