”Hopefully, there will be win-win solutions to the disputes,” the editorial says, meaning all are the winners of the war. The level of satisfaction is definitely different, but for sure, no one has suffered a fatal loss in the war.

Morrison now has a legitimate reason to claim a victory in his (first) war against the American goliaths. The next war — against China — is much more complicated with deadlier consequences for Australia and for Morrison in person than in the first war. No leader has dared to declare an open confrontation with China as Morrison has done.

Morrison marked his first win, which came after a last-minute compromise with Facebook and Google, with the Australian Parliament’s passing of the globally awaited legislation on Thursday. The law requires all global digital goliaths to pay for local news content.

It is a huge victory for Morrison, who started an all-out war against the American tech giants, while other countries, including those in the European Union, could only bluff or threaten.

Thanks to Morrison, many, including Indonesia, will profit from the confrontation. It seems to me that Morrison is eager to build his name as the true “deputy sheriff” of US President Joe Biden, after “serving” the unpredictable Donald Trump, who often bullied his loyal deputy. Former Australian prime minister John Howard was perhaps the most successful deputy sheriff of the US, who never hesitated to bully Australia’s neighbors because he knew very well the US was behind him.

News content providers, including print media, now can hope for survival amid the prolonged and deadly crisis from depleting advertisement and subscription revenues. More or less, as a journalist, I am also a beneficiary of the Australian leader’s bravery. Harvest time, however, is still a very long way ahead.

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