Someone on the other thread pointed out that search engine users are often specifically seeking news in a way that Facebook users aren't.

That makes this an area where competition between search engines matters, even if what link targets want doesn't matter at all.

It's entirely possible that Google's internal position was "this is a tax on search engines, and the higher the taxes on search engines are, the better for us".

They didn't back down. Back in June 2020, before the draft code was released, Google said they were prepared to share revenue from news.google. But not search. They demonstrated "good faith" by entering into agreements with some news providers, paying them money for news. [0]

The AU government then specifically included search in the act's explanatory memorandum. Google then threatened to ban search from Australia.

In response to Google threat, the government and Google talked. After the talks, Google withdrew it's threat. The Government claimed Google backed down.

Now we read search is excluded. [1]

How do you know a politician is lying: his lips are moving.

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/business/media/australia-...

[1] https://theconversation.com/this-weeks-changes-are-a-win-for...