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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-10-19 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Film Festival

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (15:24): With the Adelaide Film Festival beginning, I rise to speak on the local screen industry, specifically on the Make it Australian campaign, driven by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, Screen Producers Australia, the Australian Writers Guild and the Australian Directors Guild.

As a state proud of its screen success, South Australians should note its significance. For those who are unaware, this is an industry-driven campaign drawing together producers, directors, screenwriters, actors, crew another industry professionals who, like me, want to see a vibrant, local and sustainable screen sector. It has three main objectives, which include the evolution of the Australian content rules to cover media like Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, telcos and ISPs; competitive tax incentives; and well-funded public broadcasters and screen agencies.

With the meteoric rise of streaming services, our ability to keep telling Australian stories on screen is at risk of being drowned out by overseas content. Back in August, I had the pleasure of meeting with Aaron Connor of the media alliance, who argues that streaming services should have an obligation to tell Australian stories. Mr Connor argues that overseas content has already made its money before it is shown locally. Therefore, in many cases, anything streamed here is a bonus to foreign studios. Given that Australians spent a total of $4.4 billion on streaming services last year, that is a lot of revenue being distributed overseas.

With work underway on a new cultural policy, spearheaded by the federal Labor government, the looming opportunity for local production to benefit is hopefully about to dawn. We need to cast our minds back to McLeod's Daughters, which over eight seasons continuously supported the livelihoods of the local industry, from 2001 to 2009. While it was a boon to South Australia during production, its loss was a blow and arguably left a big hole we have yet to fill. You only have to look at the recent cancellation of Neighbours to realise what a disaster this has been to Melbourne and the broader industry.

Some may point out that the production of Mortal Kombat is a sign things are healthy in the local screen industry, but Mr Connor rightfully points out that production required significant numbers of crew from interstate and was a temporary benefit. It is a bonus to have foreign studios set up locally, but these occurrences are as sporadic as a fluctuating dollar. For change, we therefore need legislative steps to ensure South Australian kids have a realistic chance to develop their skills as make-up artists, camera operators and screen actors in their backyard.

Over the years, we have seen these problems compounded through the gutting of ABC from Collingswood, with a rationalised and centralised operation enshrined in Ultimo, a suburb of Sydney. This is a terrible outcome not just for South Australia but for anybody living west of the Great Dividing Range. I cannot blame the corporation for trying to survive in the face of more than $526 million in cuts since 2014 and a 20 per cent decline in commission budgets for adult drama and children's content, but its survival instinct has hurt places like South Australia the most.

While we no longer have a federal government at war with public broadcasting, as they untangle the mess we need to impress upon them the consequence of a centralised ABC. Fixing this and creating opportunities for locally produced programming by the streaming services are causes that we should consider.

My support for this campaign is driven not just by a desire to create local jobs. We have an amazing lifestyle in South Australia, with beautiful landscapes, people and stories to share. Subsequently, continual production of series content in South Australia should be something to strive for. The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance argues these are within reach through sensible reforms, and I encourage members to consider these possibilities.

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