House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-29 Daily Xml

Contents

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FILM CORPORATION

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (14:49): My question is to the Minister for the Arts. Will the minister confirm how many of the 374 jobs that the government said would be created at the Glenside film studio in 2012 have actually been created and how much of the $28.7 million worth of economic activity that the Arts SA report stated to the Public Works Committee would occur has actually occurred? In the report and update provided to the Public Works Committee, the government's justification for spending $48 million on a film studio at Glenside was that it would create 4,191 jobs over 10 years and generate an additional $217 million of economic activity.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:50): I thank the member for Bragg for her question. There is a range of issues there, some of which are hypothetical, some of which are historic, some of which I can address now, and others I will take on notice. The critical issue is whether or not as a state we want to have a film and television industry.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The opposition, I understand, supports the film and TV industry, so from that point of view there is bipartisan support. The question is whether the facilities at Hendon (where the film and TV film studios were) were up to grade. My understanding is that both sides of politics agreed that they were not. So, the only question is: if it is not adequate there and you want to continue the industry—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —where do you put it? The government, in consultation with industry, decided to place the film studios in the eastern suburbs where most of the producers, directors and filmmakers reside and have their offices now—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I went to the same school as Rolf de Heer in Sydney. Rolf de Heer and I attended the same high school in Sydney. We did not know each other; he was a bit younger, sadly. Madam Speaker, I was distracted by the member for Croydon. The film studios needed to be moved. We moved them into a fantastic new facility which will attract potential. The advice I had yesterday, which I think I put in the public domain, is that there are a couple of films in the pipeline for this year, which will create about 300 jobs—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bragg, you have asked your question.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: As I said, Madam Speaker, I am happy to get an answer on notice for the member, in detail, to the very interesting questions that she put.