The commitment comes after ACM, the owner of this publication, warned that an 80 per cent increase in newsprint costs could be catastrophic for local news journalism.

Whitlam MP Stephen Jones was quick to back the Illawarra Mercury and other local media outlets after hearing about the Your Paper in Peril campaign. He said the local Labor Party was keen to put in place a crisis response. "Labor, if successful in the election, we want to enter into emergency discussions with local media to protect our marginalised communities," he said.

Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes backed his commitment. "Regional media is really important and vital to our community. I'd be happy to work with Stephen Jones to do what we can to support local media if we're elected," she said.

On Wednesday, ACM and Country Press Australia (CPA) called for bipartisan support for emergency financial assistance.

ACM was recently notified that the only Australian supplier of the newsprint used for regional newspapers will soon increase prices by as much as 80 per cent.

For ACM's 140 newspapers and the 190 smaller independent papers represented by Country Press Australia, the impact could be catastrophic - threatening regional news coverage and journalism jobs.

The ACM network of 140 newspapers includes 14 daily titles such as The Canberra Times and Newcastle Herald. The company employs more than 1300 people around the country, including 600 journalists.

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