Google is reportedly renewing plans to launch its own licensing programme with news publishers in Australia.

The move comes as the search engine fights new government legislation that will force it to pay for content from media companies in Australia.

Google announced plans to launch the news product last June, but it was delayed because of regulatory conditions.

The revived launch was first revealed by a local media outlet contracted to provide articles for the venture, said Reuters.

Last week Google threatened to block its search engine in Australia if the government went ahead with implementing the new code of conduct.

At a public hearing of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, which is reviewing the proposed new law, Google Australia’s managing director Mel Silva said: “Coupled with the unmanageable financial and operational risk if this version of the Code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia.”

Misha Ketchell, editor at news website The Conversation, said on Wednesday he was approached by Google “to resume discussions about launching the News Showcase product as soon as possible, potentially in February. We are working with them on this,” Reuters reported.

It’s likely that part of the reason Google has pushed forward with the plans is to remove the need for government regulation over the payment of media businesses.

National Technology News has reached out to Google for a statement.

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