COLOURPRESS TERMS SEND AFR DIGITAL IN WA

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) will be a digital-only news title in Western Australia after Colourpress, the local printer, owned by Seven West Media, reportedly wanted to double its fee.

The AFR said Seven West Media's Kerry Stokes "demanded a new contract", which the AFR rejected, bringing to an end seven decades of the AFR distributing a printed newspaper in the state. The AFR editor-in-chief accused Seven of "an abuse of power".

"The Seven-owned Colourpress, the only printer of major newspapers in Western Australia, delivered the ultimatum to Nine Publishing managing director Tory Maguire," the AFR said.

According to the AFR, Seven West’s decision to demand a new contract came the day after Nine launched a rival WA digital news site to Seven West’s perthnow.com.au. The AFR has also published a series of less than flattering articles on Seven West, and its chairman Kerry Stokes, in recent times.

Colourpress is the only newspaper printer of note in WA, and has printed the AFR for the past year. Prior to printing there, the AFR was printed on the former ACM presses owned by IVE, which bought them from publisher Anthony Catalono. He got them when he bought ACM from Nine, one of nine print centres that came as part of the deal, but he didn’t want the presses, and has been offloading them ever since. The presses in WA that IVE bought were closed by the company last May, forcing the AFR to go to Colourpress.

Based in Osbourne Park, Colourpress also prints The Australian, which has reportedly not been issued with the same new contract terms.

The AFR’s Maguire said the decision by the AFR is specific to WA and had no impact on other papers and magazines in the rest of the country. “We work very constructively with the printers of our newspapers and magazines to ensure the long-term sustainability of our print products, which continue to be profitable," she said.

"Fortunately the Financial Review is an incredibly successful digital publication, which has allowed us to make this decision in the best interests of our business."

The last Western Australian print edition of The Australian Financial Review will be in two weeks’ time, 22 May.