Five years ago, in the midst of the rancorous parallel importation debate the Productivity Commission undertook a thorough examination of book prices in Australia compared to comparable prices in the US and the UK. It was by far the best and most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken (which, by the way, didn’t stop the Australian Society of Authors judging it as “guesswork” and the Australian Publishers Association condemning it as “worthless”).
Peter Donoughue retired from the publishing industry in March 2009, after a 35 year career in the Australian book trade. His last position was Managing Director of John Wiley and Sons Australia Ltd, a role he held for 16 years.
He held numerous industry positions during his career, including President of the Australian Publishers Association (1996/1997) and a Director of CAL (1993-2003).
In recent years Peter has made a particular study of digital publishing, including ebooks, and has written extensively on these and related issues. He is currently a sessional lecturer in the Master of Communication at University of Melbourne.
