“Debate rages over future of Australia’s book industry”, 7:30 Report, 7/7. There has been much heated debate over whether to remove parallel import restrictions for books in Australia, so that booksellers can bring in cheaper overseas editions. Publishers and authors are squealing in protest, but I can’t feel much sympathy for them; books in Australia are obscenely expensive (a paperback novel, for example, is AU$17-25 – U.S. equivalent, even doubled for the exchange rate, is up to AU$16). Books are a bit cheaper (30%) in department stores, but the selection there is limited. “An Onymous Lefty” has the same opinion on the issue.
This morning was the coldest in Melbourne this year so far, with any cars left outside coated in ice. Our outside thermometer read 0°C (about as cold as it can get here, though I guess that would be a mild winter temperature in some countries!).
