Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee's report 212: Audiovisual Co-production Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of India.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I'm glad to make a statement on the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties report into the Audiovisual Co-production Agreement between the government of Australia and the government of the Republic of India. Australia's relationship with India is its oldest continuous diplomatic relationship with any country in Asia; relations were established in 1943. Australia's relationship with India was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership in June 2020. Australia and India share a strong interest in audiovisual productions, and there's a clear value in collaborating on such projects with a like-minded country, especially when you consider that India is one of the largest-scale filmmakers and consumers of screen products in the world. That recognition has been translated into the Australia-India co-production agreement.

It provides a framework for Australia and India to cooperate to approve the making of audiovisual productions such as feature films, television, video recordings, animations and digital-format productions. Projects that are approved as official co-productions under the agreement will be regarded as national productions of both Australia and India. This agreement is the 14th such co-production arrangement that Australia has entered into under our international co-production program, and the aim of the program as a whole is to foster industry development and cultural exchange between cooperating countries through the medium of screen products. The agreement will increase the output of high-quality productions by sharing investment with India, and the committee is mindful that India is the world's largest democracy and the fifth-largest economy. The agreement will, therefore, open new markets for Australian film, television, animation and digital-format productions in India and internationally.

The agreement builds on the existing partnerships between Australia and Indian producers to develop high-quality products, encouraging screen industry employment, technical development and cultural exchange between our countries. The committee held an inquiry into the agreement, which included a public hearing, and the committee notes support for ratification from government and other stakeholders, including from the Australian-Indian film industry from whom we were very pleased to hear in the course of the inquiry. The committee supports the Australia-India co-production agreement and has recommended that binding treaty action be taken. On behalf of the committee, I commend this report to the House.