Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

A new TV series currently in production in Australia is set to put Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast on the map as a potential film location, leading to new economic opportunities. I am thrilled to report that producer Madeleine Kennedy, from Mad Lane Productions, chose to film the final 30 per cent of her new series We were tomorrowin the Rockhampton and Livingstone shires. Australian actors, including Underbelly's Gyton Grantley, were in Rockhampton during filming from 29 August to 10 September. The Rockhampton Heritage Village, some of our beautiful old Rockhampton Queenslander homes, local streets in Rockhampton and the beaches and salt pans in Livingstone shire will feature as key locations. This give us the opportunity to put our region on the map as a great film location and add another diverse notch in our region's economic belt.

We were tomorrow follows the journey of twin siblings who are forced to navigate through three lifetimes to escape a dying world and an immortal hunter. When a meteor collides with the moon the earth is ravaged by catastrophic natural disasters. A small percentage of the population is relocated to an alternative world—the new world—and given three lifetimes to rebuild humanity.

The film crew was attracted to Capricornia after extensive groundwork by the federal government's Fitzroy and Central West bureau of Regional Development Australia, which is based in Rockhampton. RDA executive officer, Kalair McArthur, took Madeleine around key sites which have subsequently become locations for the series. Regional Development Australia has been engaging with the film industry about many regional Queensland locations and was keen to show produces the great variety of locations Rockhampton has to offer. If the first run of this TV series is successful, the producers say that they would hope to return to Rockhampton to use it as a key base for a second and potentially a third series.

Becoming known as a great film location would create new and diverse economic value for the region. The presence of Mad Lane Productions could be a silver lining for a new industry that we have not previously tapped into in Central Queensland. The TV series is in its final stages of filming and will be delivered to a domestic and international broadcaster by late September.

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