Employment Opportunities

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:37): I am really excited to be able to talk about the Adelaide Film Festival Youth competition today, and it is part of a significant body of work around South Australia in the creative industries and in the high-tech industries that is encouraging our young people to a state of optimism like they have never had before about not only their future but also their present.

I note the unparalleled business confidence our businesses are seeing in South Australia right now and reporting to the agencies that report on these matters, and I note the confidence that young people have in their future in South Australia and that they are demonstrating that confidence by coming back to South Australia when once they were leaving. Indeed, in the last year of Labor, I think more than 7,000 South Australians, a large proportion aged in the 20 to 35 age bracket, left South Australia. Last year, certainly for the first time since I have been an adult, since the early nineties, more young people are coming back to South Australia than are leaving.

We are creating an opportunity for our young people in our schools—our best and brightest—to think that they, too, might have a future in South Australia, whether they want to work in the space sector, the creative industries or cybersecurity and in the tens of billions of dollars worth of defence contracts that are available. The cybersecurity world, as the Premier outlined in question time today, is where there is significant growth in the requirement for jobs, and we have excited companies coming here because they know that this government is investing in our young people, giving them the opportunity to do those courses.

There is this connection between the opportunities for young people, in terms of not only their jobs but also the things they are excited about now, and the creative industries, and particularly where tech is involved it is a very good sweet spot for South Australia.

I was launching the virtual reality master's course at Adelaide University just a few weeks ago at a time when Mortal Kombat had just come out. I was able to report the opportunity that was there for those young people thinking about their futures right now, that South Australia at that time, three weeks ago, had the No. 1 film in the US box office in Mortal Kombat. It was filmed here, substantial work was done here and hundreds and hundreds of jobs were done by young people and professionals here in South Australia across a range of industries contributing to that film.

So far this year South Australia has also had the single largest arts festival in the world in the Adelaide Fringe, and indeed we did so last year as well. That is a testament not only to our solid handling of the coronavirus pandemic but also to the extraordinary reputation and the extraordinary level of quality artistic production in South Australia. The Department for Education this year, joining the Department for Innovation and Skills and the Adelaide Film Festival, is very pleased, I advise the house, to celebrate the Adelaide Film Festival Youth festival taking place between 26 July and 30 July, with screenings, workshops and creative industry programs.

This festival for young people in South Australia is an extraordinarily exciting time for young people who might enjoy the opportunity to participate and view the films that are made by young people in our schools across South Australia. It is indeed a spectacular opportunity for young filmmakers, whether their focus is on the creative or the technical, to ply their trade. They have right now a filmmaking competition they can enter by 24 May.

Young people and students in our schools who want to can submit a film they have made or their school or their class has made; if selected, it will screen at the Adelaide Film Festival Youth festival in July as well as be in the running to share in a prize pool of $2,500. There is also a Creative Industries Expo on 28 July at Lot Fourteen as part of the AFF Youth Festival, giving students exclusive access to those incredible burgeoning South Australian creative industries in the form of an interactive expo at Lot Fourteen.

Exhibitors include major companies, such as Rising Sun Pictures (which has contributed to pretty much all the recent Marvel films along with many others) and Mighty Kingdom, as well as representatives from tertiary institutions that offer degrees in creative industries. Students can learn and explore potential clear pathways in screen, games and VFX and meet the companies that are making waves in Adelaide and around the world. Also in relation to the film festival, there is an opportunity for young people who want to participate as viewers, as many do. They can actually get involved and join the AFF Youth Jury.

I encourage them to jump online to the Adelaide Film Festival website this month if they want to get involved as part of that youth jury. It is an opportunity to get involved in the screen industry, watch excellent films and be able to contribute to the success of their peers. I congratulate the chair of the board, Anton Andreacchio, and Matt Kesting, the CEO and creative director. I thank Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who helped us launch the festival last year, and—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Yes, she is fantastic, and she was fantastic that day. She is from an outstanding Adelaide family of arts professionals who continue to contribute great work, and Tilda is just the latest in a long line of artists who support South Australia's industry. I thank all those who are now giving back to the industry through the AFF Youth festival.

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