Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

BANDT (—) (): The Greens support this motion and support these amendments. By standing up to the government, the parliament has just helped save the Australian screen sector and save Australian stories. These are very, very important amendments that the House is now agreeing to, and it shows the critical importance of having a range of voices in this parliament able to hold the government to account.

As the member for Melbourne, as the former arts spokesperson for the Greens, and now as the leader, can I say that one of the ways that we will recover from the pandemic is by growing jobs, growing businesses, growing industries in Australia. That includes the screen sector, and it includes the postproduction sector. We will do that by government getting behind them, not cutting their support.

The government wanted to cut the support that was being given to small production and postproduction companies, effectively targeting documentaries. That would have meant it would be very, very difficult to tell our own stories to ourselves as a country here in Australia. This sector is very reliant on getting the same kind of support that is handed out to the bigger end, but the government wanted to attack the smaller end of the sector. The parliament took the government on, held them to account and said no, and today the parliament has won.

I want to acknowledge the amendments that were moved by the opposition, which the Greens supported. The Greens had similar amendments which we would have moved, but we supported the opposition's amendments. I acknowledge in particular the work of Senator Hanson-Young, who has taken up the fight for the screen sector, the production sector and the postproduction sector in this country and is a big part of the reason that we have now helped save the Australian screen sector and our ability to tell our own stories. This will make a big difference. It will make a huge difference to our culture. It will make a big difference to jobs and to the economic recovery, including in places like Melbourne. It happened because we have a Senate and a parliament that aren't just dominated by the government but have voices that are prepared to hold them to account. When you take the government on, you can win, and today the parliament has had a big win. I support the motion.

Question agreed to.

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