Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Vue Group is a creative studio based in Bunbury, which is in my electorate of Forrest in the south-west of Western Australia. Vue Group has recently become a finalist in the 2014 Western Australian Industry and Export Awards in the categories of small business export, creative industries export and regional exporter. It is set to become WA's biggest film company, looking to access the demand for animation and CGI films in China.

Recently the company announced a deal with Chinese animation giant Shanghai Hippo to produce up to four films a year—in Bunbury, in my electorate. It is expected that this will grow, as there are ongoing discussions within the Australia-China joint venture, including about the establishment of a specialist animation training facility for hundreds of students, both domestic and international. The first films from the partnership, Perfect Friends and Kung Fu Star, will be released in Australia early next year. Vue contributed VFX animation to the feature and produced the English language version. The companies have five more animation and live action films in development. Two of these will be Shanghai Hippo's most expensive productions ever created. I hope that we will see Bunbury premieres for these films. The development of this high-tech industry in Bunbury will employ more than 200 people locally for their biggest projects and will bring many millions of dollars to the local economy.

Vue Group has embraced both the changes brought to filmmaking through digital innovation and the strength of co-productions with quality partners who recognize Vue's innovation, their experience and the depth of Vue Group's creative teams. Whilst their key projects focus on animation and live action drama, they have other projects, including cinema design, multiplatform broadcast, public exhibition, transmedia and visual effects. I would like to congratulate managing director Alan Lindsay on the success of Vue Group, and Shanghai Hippo company founder Kerr Xu for his support of this new local initiative. Mr Xu is to be congratulated for his vision and drive, and I look forward to seeing what he can achieve with Vue Group in Bunbury. I am fully supportive of this joint venture and I urge others to join in supporting it wherever they can. I know the City of Bunbury will do so and that the WA state government will do exactly the same.

I encourage people to have a look at Vue's website to see what they can do. They are an amazing group. They created a virtual dolphinarium—'an immersive experience'—on a seven-metre diameter, 360-degree screen for the Dolphin Research Centre in Bunbury. This sort of activity in the south-west means that our area is set to become the creative and cultural hub of the state of Western Australia, combining with key events like Cinefest Oz in promoting the creative talent of the region. There is a south-west strategy for growth in the creative industries. There has been growth of 3.6 per cent per annum in this sector—film, TV, radio, publishing, architecture, design, the visual arts, music and the performing arts. I know that Vue Group and Shanghai Hippo are due to sign off on their new joint venture in coming weeks.

Again, I congratulate Alan Lindsay and his team at Vue Group. I wish them every success in the Western Australian Industry and Export Awards and for their future in animation and digital production. This is an example of a small business, a family company, that has invested and taken a risk. Clearly they are very good at what they do. To see a company like this operating in a small community—okay, Bunbury is a city—and to see this type of production and capacity in a regional area just shows you what the local people are capable of. I congratulate them, their employees and the whole team at Vue Group. I wish them every success in their future endeavours.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 9.30 pm, the debate is interrupted.

House adjourned at 21:30