South Australian Film Industry

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Arts. Can the minister provide an update to the house about the South Australian screen sector?

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (14:46): Thanks to the member for Badcoe for her question. I know she is very passionate about supporting the screen sector in South Australia, and I have some good news to share.

South Australia is known within the national screen industry for its premium locations, for its ease of access, and for our incredibly talented pool of creatives, both in front of the camera and behind. This morning, I was pleased to be at the South Australian Film Corporation's Adelaide studios where I joined representatives from Netflix to talk about a new and very exciting South Australian project.

What we do here in South Australia is tell great stories, and this project is no different. I am very excited to inform the house that Miles Franklin's groundbreaking Australian novel My BrilliantCareer has been adapted into a dramatic series that is going to be filmed right here in South Australia.

Miles Franklin was a pioneering Australian author who developed a uniquely Australian voice in her writing, ultimately providing an endowment for the Miles Franklin Award that is awarded for literature about Australian life in any of its phases, so it makes sense for SAFC to partner with Netflix to produce this exceptional adaption of this iconic Australian story right here in South Australia.

This series will showcase South Australian locations, shooting in our beautiful regions, including the southern area of the Barossa Valley to the state's South-East and across metropolitan Adelaide. This production is being supported by the Malinauskas government through the SAFC's Screen Production Fund. Apart from showcasing our state, this production is expected to inject $17 million into our state's economy. It is anticipated that this series will be the highest spend of any TV series ever made in South Australia.

The production will see 450 South Australian jobs for crew and on-screen talent. It will engage more than 250 South Australian small businesses, from caterers through to costume designers, and whilst harnessing a majority of South Australian crew, the production of My BrilliantCareer will also provide valuable upskilling training opportunities for up-and-coming local crew through a special Netflix and SAFC attachments initiative.

This will support four training roles to work on My Brilliant Career, including a production design assistant, a costume assistant, a costume maker and machinist attachment, and a safety attachment. This government is committed to building our state's skills capacity, and this production is contributing to building the skills that are transferable across industries.

Netflix's commitment to My Brilliant Career comes off the back of significant investment by this government in our screen sector. We have committed more than $15 million to a partnership between SAFC and ABC to provide an ongoing pipeline of high-quality Australian TV productions in our state. We came to government promising to annualise the Adelaide Film Festival with an additional $2 million. We followed this up with an investment committing a further $2 million to the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund to support local independent filmmaking.

I know just yesterday, I think the Leader of the Opposition seemed a bit critical of our support of the South Australian screen sector and a really excellent program of the Adelaide Film Festival Goes to Cannes, an Australian first that has seen some incredible results for South Australian screen producers taking us to the global stage.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left will come to order.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS: We have seen some incredible work that was presented to last year's Cannes Film Festival, and we have had Lesbian Space Princess sold overseas. We have had Mockbuster acquired by a US distributor, and many other successful stories from that program.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned for the final time.