Google opens paid-for Australian platform in drive to undercut Government’s proposed content payment laws

Google has launched a platform in Australia offering news it has paid for after striking its own content deals with publishers.

It’s part of a drive to show that world-first legislation proposed by the Federal Government to enforce payments is unnecessary.

Only rolled out previously in Brazil and Germany, the News Showcase platform was originally slated for launch last June.

But Alphabet-owned Google delayed plans when the Government moved to make it a legal…