Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I move the amendment circulated in my name:

Schedule 10, item 1, page 137 (lines 19-20), after paragraph 376-65(5)(b), insert:

; and

(c)

if the application for the certificate is for an animated film that is a *film that is a series and not for a film that is a season of that series:

(i)

the series is made up of at least twelve episodes and each episode is at least one quarter of a commercial hour in duration and the series has a new creative concept (see section 376-70); or

(ii)

in the case of projects, the series is made up of at least four episodes and each episode is at least one quarter of a commercial hour in duration and the series has a new creative concept (see section 376-70).

I flagged this amendment during the second reading debate. I regard this not as a matter of politics but as a very sensible and minor reform, but one nevertheless with some significant consequences. This amendment pays due deference to a unanimous recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee on Economics, recommendation 4, which stated:

The committee recommends that the bill be amended to allow ten or fifteen minute animation episodes to be categorised as a ‘series’ for the purposes of qualifying for the producer offset, provided that a total commercial hours threshold is met.

The Senate economics committee unanimously came to that conclusion based on evidence presented to it by various witnesses—in particular that of Mr Burnett, who represented the Screen Producers Association of Australia, who pointed out to the Senate economics committee that there are many programs currently in development being financed that are commercial 15-minute programs. Those programs would fall under this definition. The Film Finance Corporation allows the financing of 15-minute episodes. This would effectively go against the trend with digital media. The notion of 13, 26 or 52 episodes per series is changing under the program-stripping that is occurring in broadcast digital media internationally et cetera. So we request that the definition of an animated series be amended to include episodes of commercial 15 minutes or more with no fewer than 12 episodes per series.

As I say, we regard this as a very sensible amendment which I hope the government will see fit to support. It will come as no revelation to the House that animations, or cartoons, are generally of a short duration. I know this because, whenever I get home—on those rare occasions—and my daughter is watching cartoons, I will sit down and watch one with her, and there are very few that go for more than 15 minutes. I am sure the Assistant Treasurer, as the father of children of a similar age, would agree with me; I am sure he watches the odd cartoon with his children as well, and he would know that cartoons going for 30 minutes are very rare indeed.

So, seriously, these are very important productions, and it would be a shame to have these productions denied the tax benefits which are applied to other productions, through what I would regard as probably an unintended consequence, by the government. There are other ways of doing it. There was some discussion of a 10-minute threshold. It could possibly be dealt with in regulation rather than in legislation. I am relaxed about the method. This is our proposed method. If the government has a different method, I am happy to hear it and consider it and, in all likelihood, we would be happy to support it. But, as I say, I do not seek to make points. I am not critical of the government. It simply is one of those things which should be fixed, and I would ask the House to support the amendment.

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