Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian screen industry employs more than 25,000 Australians and generates more than $3 billion in economic activity, including $252 million in export revenue and $725 million on tourism. Deloitte estimates that 230,000 international tourists visit or extend their stay in Australia each year as a result of viewing Australian film and TV content. Screen is a valuable industry we need to nurture and grow.

Late last year, a contingent from the film and television industry came to Canberra to lobby us to save Australia's cultural soul. What I recall most strongly about that Make It Australian visit, is that industry stalwarts, famous names amongst them, with little personally at stake, came to make the case not just for jobs but to ensure that those of us with the privilege of serving in this place never lose sight of the importance of sharing Australian stories on screen.

I acknowledge, and Labor acknowledges that it costs money to support our screen industry; it is a subsidised industry. But we're not talking about subsidising the manufacture of widgets. We're talking about ensuring that we remain culturally connected to our land, our histories and our communities. After all, the arts have been publicly funded for centuries. Would Shakespeare, navigating the emerging Puritan movement and otherwise subsisting on pennies on entry, have survived, let alone flourished, without the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I? The fact is that every film we make and every series and miniseries that beams through our TVs and PCs is another thread in the tapestry that tells the stories of Australia, and that, to Labor, is priceless.

In a dissenting report to the report on the inquiry into the Australian film and television industry, Labor members of the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts noted:

Labor members are committed to supporting Australian stories being created and told by Australian performers and crew in Australian film and television productions. Labor is the party of the arts and is the only party with developed, integrated and comprehensive policies that set up a vision for the sector and whose policies have been implemented and appropriately funded.

Labor members on the committee further noted that implementing such a vision requires:

… a long-term commitment to a well-supported and funded Australian film and television industry.

While the majority report calls for a flattening of the producer tax offset to 30 per cent for both film and TV production, Labor members were concerned that reducing the film offset from 40 per cent would make some films unviable to produce in Australia. Screen Australia has expressed concern that movies like Lion, The Sapphires, The Dressmaker and Sweet Country would not have been made with a 30 per cent tax offset.

Mr Howarth interjecting—

I'll take the member for Petrie's interjection. I suppose it depends on who you talk to at Screen Australia.

Labor members therefore are unable to support the committee's recommendation to reduce the tax offset for films to 30 per cent. Labor members did support the recommendation to remove the 65-hour cap on TV series accessing the offset. It is a decision, which if implemented by the government, should lead to longer-run TV series.

Australia's screen sector is blessed with highly trained and highly motivated hands-on people. Whether it is the actors whose names appear in lights or the myriad crew whose names zip by in the credits, the contributions are—whether the productions are a Hollywood blockbuster produced on the Gold Coast or an arty indie shot on a shoestring in rugged Tasmania—professional and world class.

Last year, I visited the set of Rosehaven, which was being shot in the town of Oaklands in my electorate. It was the second season. The first season was shot in New Norfolk, another town in my electorate. I'm gutted that I'm yet to have found a part—a small part, perhaps—in the show, but they are shooting a third season, so time is on my side! Rosehaven is a gentle comedy—a bit like this place—co-written by its stars Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola. Luke grew up in Tasmania and his innate understanding of the place gives Rosehaven its beautiful authenticity. One of the signature lines that you'll hear throughout the series is, 'So, you couldn't hack it on the mainland?' It's a refrain familiar to any Tasmanian who leaves home only to return. It's something that only a Tasmanian could have written.

Of course, there is more to Rosehaven than Luke and Celia. There are the co-stars and supporting cast, like Kris McQuaid, one of my constituents, who portrays Luke's iron-willed mother, and former Tassie teachers union chief Noela Foxcroft, who plays the near-silent receptionist, and the myriad crew.

When in town, the production supports businesses, and the benefits flow on. When the show is screened interstate, it reminds mainlanders that Tasmania is somewhere they need to be. Tasmania is increasingly sought out as a filmmaking destination. Yes, the weather can be challenging with the light changing from hour to hour, but that has not stopped a host of films and shows being made on our beautiful island. Let me rattle off a few: the cult series The Kettering Incident and the award-winning movies Lion, The Light Between Oceans, Arctic Blast, Beaconsfield, Blind Company, Tasmania Devils, Dying Breed, Exile, For the Term of His Natural Life, The Hunter, The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce, Manganinnie, The Outlaw Michael Howe, The Tale Of Ruby Rose, Tasmania Story, They Found a Cave, Van Diemen's Land; and the upcoming, The Nightingale. Just in case you think too many are about escaping convicts who devour human flesh, the 1980 smash-hit comedy Young Einstein also had scenes shot in Tasmania.

It goes without saying that technology has transformed and continues to transform the screen industry. Screens are available everywhere: on phones, wristwatches, tablets, desktops and the backs of seats in planes and cars, and in kitchens, lounges and bedrooms. Those of us in our 50s and 60s in this chamber grew up with one telly in the lounge and perhaps three channels to choose from. Our younger colleagues in their 40s would have grown up with VCR as the norm; and those in their 30s, with multiple TVs and many more channels. The changes mean audiences have fragmented. Where once advertisers could rely on millions of Australians watching a prime-time TV show, those certainties are no longer there. The fragmentation of audiences has led to the destruction of advertising value, which has, in turn, led to an ongoing transformation of media business modelling.

Labor members on the committee are pleased the inquiry recognised the challenges confronting the Australian screen industry, including slow growth for the independent production sector and the impact of fragmenting audiences and technology change. Increasingly, consumers are showing that they are willing to pay for content, not just at the cinema or at the video rental store—remember those?—but also for online rentals and sales, and subscriptions to streaming services.

If I may double-strangle a metaphor, I am concerned that Australians could get drowned in a flood of content from these big US streaming services like Netflix, Stan and the others, while I'm doubly excited at the same time that we might see off the tide. It's important that we put in place the mechanisms that ensure the continued production of Australian stories while avoiding the pitfalls of unnecessary interference. We should, as much as possible, nurture Australian content while never seeking to direct what it says.

For generations, Australian children have grown up with their lives reflected back to them on screen. I grew up in the suburbs of Perth in WA with Fat Cat, the mascot for Channel 7, and Flapper, the elephant mascot for Channel 9, as a daily part of my young life. I remember loving Flapper so much I literally cried with joy when it was announced he was visiting our local shopping centre. But if Channel 9 Perth had not been required to provide local content, I wonder whether Flapper would have ever existed. I don't know what lasting effects my love affair with Flapper has had on my emotional development, but the love was pure and remains so to this day!

There are a number of other recommendations that I'm not going to get to. Recommendation 5 of the majority report calls for a review of the hours based quota. Labor are generally supportive of the need for a review, but we strongly caution the government against just rushing into changing these children's programming requirements. The UK experience shows that they had a 93 per cent drop in children's TV investment when they changed their requirements. So there is a note of caution there. But, in general, there was a lot of good feeling on this committee.

Mr Deputy Speaker Buchholz, the member for Dobell, who is in the Chamber, is a member of this committee. With your indulgence, and perhaps on the chair's behalf, I express the committee's and the chair's condolences to the member for Dobell on the death of her father yesterday. I am sure the House would second that.

I'm not a member of the committee. I'm just a former journo who loves communication and the arts, so it gave me great pleasure to speak to this report, and I thank you for your time.

Debate adjourned.