Australia’s four largest newspaper publishers are driving a plan to merge PANPA/Newspaper Publishers’ Association into a new group they will own, based on The Newspaper Works and headed by Tony Hale.

A statement today says News, Fairfax, Seven West and APN will continue to own the group, with “membership broadened to include other publishers and industry partners as associate members”.

The group says members of NPA – which incorporates the longer-established Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers’ Association – will benefit from a better-resourced industry group with a wider range of skills. An extraordinary general meeting will be needed to sanction the decision and approve how its surplus funds should be allocated.

It is not clear what role current PANPA chief executive Mark Hollands – credited with pulling the organisation back from the brink after numerous leadership changes – will play, but he says he is “completely in favour” of the changes.

“I’ve been encouraging it for more than two years, and have always believed in one voice for the industry,” he told GXpress. “Fragmented groups and separate priorities never made any sense to me.”

He says The Newspaper Works will be a new organisation, “not a mish-mash of disparate groups”, and will have a strong sense of its future strategy and priorities.

“I can’t be specific about what I’ll do because there are lots more skills and experiences in the combined group,” he says, “but I’m cool with that.

“I’m committed to making sure I can add value to the industry and be fulfilled professionally. Tony is a great guy, and I’m more than happy to be working with him.”

He emphasises that money is not the driver for the changes: “NPA/PANPA is a very healthy organisation financially. We have three years’ worth of operating funds in reserves.

“This is not about money but about helping secure a better future for the newspaper industry and our colleagues within it.”

The announcement follows a TNW board meeting attended by APN News & Media chief executive Brett Chenoweth, then-chairman and chief executive of News Limited John Hartigan, Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood and West Australian Newspapers chief executive Chris Wharton.

It says the “new single industry group for the country” will operate as The Newspaper Works. Its scope will encompass advocacy, marketing and advertising, government lobbying, regulation, press freedoms and the environment.

“The Newspaper Works will promote newspapers across all print and digital platforms to audiences such as advertisers, consumers, governments, shareholders and industry,” it says.

Chairman of The Newspaper Works, Greg Hywood, said: “Our industry needs one peak organisation with a strong voice to represent newspapers in the many forms they now take – print, web, mobile and tablet.”

Core NPA activities, such as the annual conference and the Newspaper of the Year Awards, will continue. All the services and engagement previously under taken by PANPA will continue under the leadership of The Newspaper Works.  It says tit is vital that the new body embraces and encourages members to participate in the PANPA awards, which are among the largest for newspapers in the world.

“The strength of much of NPA/PANPA’s activities comes from the participation of members from New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Asia,” it says. “PANPA’s relationship with New Zealand and Asia-Pacific titles remains important.”

The new organisation will also assume the responsibilities of the Publishers’ National Environment Bureau and the advertising compliance body, the Publishers’ Advertising Advisory Bureau, as they relate to newspapers. Tony Hale will continue as chief executive of the new-look organisation.

“This is a big and exciting step,” he says. “The time is right to create a new powerhouse for the industry given the success we’re recording with the explosion of new technology in our industry.

“Our many audiences can only benefit from The Newspaper Works’ new scope of operation.”

Staff from NPA/PANPA will move under the banner of The Newspaper Works and continue with services including its weekly newsletter, newspaper and yearbook, plus a YouTube channel, regular tweets and Facebook updates.

Work will begin in the New Year to integrate these with The Newspaper Works’ website.

As PANPA has in the past, the new body will create advisory groups to cover core industry areas. “Participants will set agendas and conduct actions for the benefit of the industry,” it says.