Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, on Monday 8 February, I joined some wonderful supporters and volunteers at the Capri Cinema in my electorate to call on the Prime Minister to do more to support independent cinemas across Australia. Independent cinemas across Australia had a day of campaigning last week. My electorate is home to the majority of South Australia's independent cinemas including the Capri Cinema, the Palace Nova Cinemas and the Piccadilly. These are much-loved independent venues in Adelaide. Not only do they provide entertainment but they're also an important drawcard for other businesses in the area like cafes, restaurants and shops, and they support many other local businesses. But, as we all know, COVID has hit the independent cinemas and they've suffered around a 70 per cent loss in revenue. They still cannot operate at 100 per cent. Their cinemas are half empty, or you could call them 'half full'. Many of them are way down in takings and turnover, and many new releases from the US and Hollywood are not coming to our shores. People are holding back until COVID is done. They will be up and running, hopefully, later on. Many of them are Australian owned family businesses that will struggle to stay open when JobKeeper ends in March. And I'm joining together with many other colleagues in calling for a targeted government support package to see them through this health and economic crisis. We cannot afford to lose our independent cinemas and the government must— (Time expired)