You may have read or heard that the Productivity Commission has handed down its final report on the regulations that prohibit the unauthorised importation of some books into Australia. They have recommended that all restrictions be removed after a three-year transition period. The Commission's role is ‘to help governments make better policies in the long term interest of the Australian community’. As its name implies, its bias is towards economic outcomes – and its final recommendations on the publishing industry reflect that. The Commissioners believe that a free market allows the prices of goods and services to reach their lowest level through competition; regulations distort the market and hence prices – remove the regulations and books will be cheaper – simple!

I don't necessarily disagree with that, but I do believe that sometimes markets need some regulation to achieve social, political and cultural benefits that outweigh the pure economic ones. We accept regulations in the building industry, in child-care and car manufacturing, even though without those regulations we may have cheaper buildings, child-care and cars. Conversely, we have accepted that most tariffs be removed from manufactured items, even though this leads to short-term unemployment and social disruption. We do this because we accept the argument that these goods could be manufactured more cheaply/efficiently elsewhere and that the people who are displaced will, in the longer term, find more meaningful employment in other areas.

So, should the restrictions be removed from the book industry? Everyone, including me, wants cheaper books, so what's the problem? Well, books aren't quite like plasma TVs. One the most exciting cultural and intellectual developments over the past 20 years or so has been the growth of a vibrant and successful local publishing industry; books published in Australia now account for almost 60% of all sales. Other cultural industries, such as film, are veritable basket-cases compared to Australian publishing. The sector employs many thousands of people and equally importantly gives Australians the opportunity to write and read Australian stories, whether it be Kate Grenville or Bryce Courtney; Steve Waugh or Noel Pearson. It has developed a dynamic export market, so that now our writers are read around the world. Australian publishers, too, are publishing and bringing overseas works to our attention that we may never have been aware of – writers such as Italian novelist Niccolo Ammantini, or Canadian neuroscientist Norman Doidge. In doing so, they add to the public discourse that makes our society a richer and more exciting place to live.

Removing the restrictions may jeopardise all that has been achieved: if booksellers can import slightly cheaper copies of Australian or foreign authored books that are also published here, it stands to reason that the investment the Australian publisher has made is in jeopardy. They become less profitable, less willing to take risks. The only secure investment they can make is in books that nobody else would be interested in and we risk moving from an industry that is culturally confident and outward looking to one that is timid and parochial. It's interesting to note that no other country with a sophisticated publishing culture and industry has removed similar restrictions that apply.

As a bookseller, I do occasionally find the regulations frustrating. But these frustrations pale into insignificance when I contemplate the possibility of the total removal of the regulations and its consequences – all on the uncertain chance that some of the books we buy may become a bit cheaper. If you care about your culture, write to your MP and tell them that you want a vibrant Australian publishing industry.