Major Business Newspaper to Cease Publishing in Western Australia

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) claims it can no longer afford to produce a print edition in Western Australia.

The paper is part of the stable of media owned by Nine, which includes the TV channel of the same name, plus talkback radio in four state capitals, online news and specialist sites such as drive.com.au and four major print titles: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun Herald, The Age, and the AFR.

It doesn’t print a state newspaper in Western Australia, instead covering it via its WA Today website.

Conglomerate Seven West Media, owned by billionaire Kerry Stokes, also has multiple brands across Australia, including Channel 7 and West Australian Newspapers, which owns 32 metropolitan, suburban, and regional newspapers, including The West Australian, as well as the free news site, perthnow.com.au.

It also publishes the national digital publication The Nightly. Crucially, it also owns the only printer in WA capable of producing newspapers, Colourpress.

Late last month, the printing firm was alleged to have told Nine Publishing’s managing director, Tory Maguire, that the cost of producing the AFR was to double. The company then decided to cease producing the title in WA.

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The newspaper has two journalists based in the state to cover the resources sector and local readership accounts for about 10 percent of print circulation.

The AFR was previously printed in Mandurah, south of Perth, at a facility most recently owned by ASX-listed company IVE Group. However, it closed down in May last year. Nine’s only option was to hire its rival, Seven, which agreed to a deal that allowed either party to cancel with 28 days’ notice.

As print circulation numbers drop, Australian printing presses have closed or switched hands multiple times, meaning it is common for rival publications to be produced from the same printer.

The Epoch Times attempted to contact Seven West Media for a response.