Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Of course, Senator Patrick, I'm always happy to engage with small businesses and with constituents, and to work cooperatively with senators across this place to understand the particular needs that may be out there. As I indicated in my answer to your previous question, the government is very committed to working with the independent cinema sector to ensure its viability and to understand the unique circumstances it faces.

We have already launched various initiatives in relation to getting audiences back into cinemas. The 26 December initiative by Screen Australia, around the Our Summer of Cinema campaign, focused on and highlighted a number of Australian titles to try to help create and generate more interest in people returning to cinemas. Equally, we are supporting other parts of the arts sector in generating more Australian content, but also attracting more movie production here. We're very committed to working with those independent cinemas, and I'm happy to speak directly with them.