MEAA Submission to the Treasury Laws Amendment – Feb 2026

MEAA provides this submission in response to the government’s proposed Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Bill 2025.

MEAA strongly opposes the proposed changes that would restrict public access to director’s personal details through ASIC’s Company Register, including addresses and dates of birth.

These changes represent a serious threat to press freedom and, if enacted, would significantly undermine corporate transparency ...

Statement on Dismissal of Jayden Kitchener-Waters

MEAA stands in solidarity with our First Nations member, Gomeroi & Ngiyampaa man Jayden Kitchener-Waters, following the NSW Premier Department’s decision to terminate his employment earlier this week.

Mr Kitchener-Waters was informed last Friday that his role as Community Engagement Officer at the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust would end on Tuesday 27 January due to alleged “code of conduct breaches”.

The disappointing decision ...

Victorian unionists join to fight Carnival Cruises ‘extreme exploitation’

Victorian union members have today backed the MUA campaign to end the extreme exploitation on Carnival Cruise ships based in Australia and will meet the Carnival Adventure when it arrives in Port Melbourne for the Australian Open tomorrow (Jan 21).

Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Organiser Shane Reside said “Carnival Cruises is paying its crew as little as $2.50 an hour ...

Union members condemn attacks on cartoonist

MEAA members condemn the vicious and specious attacks on cartoonist member Cathy Wilcox, and call on Nine Entertainment to stand by its Charter of Editorial Independence and support staff who face online harassment.

Wilcox’s cartoon “Grass roots” is a comment on the political motivations and power dynamics behind the push for a Royal Commission into the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at a ...

Media union denounces proposed legislation as a threat to freedom and democracy

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union representing workers in Australia’s media and creative industries, calls on the Federal Parliament to reject the Federal Government’s new proposed legislation, the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026.

The proposal undermines core principles of press freedom and freedom of artistic expression and poses a threat to our democracy.

Journalists, creative workers, and ...