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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-11-01 Daily Xml
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New Business Ventures

Mr WINGARD (Mitchell) (15:34): I rise today to talk about a business that is doing wonderfully well in South Australia. We know that there is a lot to talk about when it comes to business. We know that South Australia has the highest unemployment rate in the nation and the highest youth unemployment rate on the mainland. There are grave concerns in the community about jobs of the future in South Australia. Today, the Gillman deal fell over, which saw another 6,000 promised jobs go up in smoke. The state Labor government promised that 100,000 jobs would be delivered earlier this year and they have not even reached a target of 3,000, which is deeply disappointing.

Also, a report into consumer confidence that came out today showed that it is extremely low in South Australia. In fact, the disparity between consumer confidence and business confidence has not been seen at these levels in this state since the global financial crisis. Confidence is extremely low and it is even worse on the West Coast and in the state's north in the wake of September's statewide blackout, which did untold damage to businesses in South Australia. We know that there is a lot of negativity around and it is always important to look for positives in tough times—and times are tough in South Australia.

A group of young people is doing a marvellous job and I would like to recognise them here today. Anton and Carlo Andreacchio (along with their father, who is famous for making movies here in South Australia) lead a team that consists of Edward Watson, James Taylor, Piers Mussared, Genevieve Rouleau and Greg Schrader. They are wonderful young South Australian people doing great work. They have started a company called Convergen and another called Jumpgate.

On September 30 this year, the Telstra AFL virtual reality lounge app was launched on the Oculus store, allowing viewers to watch live games in a virtual reality environment and experience the AFL Grand Final, the Brownlow, preliminary finals and the draft combine in a 360° environment. Jumpgate was the developer and production company behind the project, and I attended a demonstration and celebration of the launch of the Jumpgate company a few weeks ago.

Convergen is an animation studio that specialises in visualisation for major infrastructure projects. They work with architects and designers to communicate their vision behind projects, engage stakeholders and inspire the public. They have also been able to assist stakeholders through their designs and partner with companies looking to tender for advanced projects. Convergen has successfully delivered over 150 projects in areas as diverse as civil infrastructure, construction and mining and gas companies.

Jumpgate is a virtual reality production company that is constantly pushing the boundaries of technology as we know it. We know this push into the future is vitally important for generating jobs especially in South Australia, and that is exactly what this group is doing. Through a commitment to research and development, Jumpgate has been able to form long-term successful partnerships that have enabled them to explore and realise the value of virtual reality and the opportunities this technology creates. Working with the film industry, through codevelopment or production, bringing technical support and consulting services to projects is what they are about.

Jumpgate's work was used in sales and marketing strategies at Cannes. Jumpgate produced the first virtual reality horror film in Australia and supported the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival by partnering to create and manage the festival's virtual reality suite. Last year, Jumpgate partnered with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to create the Santos virtual reality lunchtime concert series. Jumpgate is currently exploring the value of virtual reality in live events, working to capture unique experiences in virtual reality. AFL clubs are using different roles of VR in training, skills development and viewer experience. There is a breadth of opportunities within AFL.

I know they have been working closely with the Adelaide clubs and a couple of clubs in Melbourne to come up with training programs where players can work out stoppage plays at centre square stoppages and around-the-ground stoppages, so that players can actually be doing work on their recovery phase. Of course, AFL players train very hard physically. They need to have a day off to recover. On that recovery day, using this virtual reality technology, they are able to do a lot of training in the stoppage area, which is absolutely outstanding.

One of the most impressive aspects is that the Jumpgate-Convergen group have established themselves quite independent of government. They are kicking major goals, and while they might get the support of government as a client, major international companies are also vying for their services. South Australia, as we know, has these great skills and great people, and they are doing wonderful things even in a very tough climate, as I outlined at the outset. Imagine what these companies could be doing if we had a growing South Australia, if we had a government focused on growing business and growing jobs in South Australia. The sky is the limit.

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