Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

When I recite my ABCs, I end with 'X, Y, Zed'. The reason for that is that I'm a Play School girl, not a Sesame Street girl. Play School is Australian content. We want to see more Australian content, and this government promised us Australian content. But, like so on many issues, this government is quite happy to break their promises. We've seen it on superannuation, we've seen it on stage 3 tax cuts and now we see it on what they were so staunch and so proud about. In the arts sector, they've broken their promise to deliver Australian content quotas for streaming platforms.

This promise was made in light of that, when we were in government, Paul Fletcher, the former Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, worked with industry and proposed a way forward to develop a content quota regime. We had a change of government. Prior to the change of government the former shadow minister, Tony Burke—at Woodford Folk Festival no less—promised in the summer of 2022 that, if they were elected to government, they would deliver content quotas for streaming platforms.

Maybe he thought they wouldn't win; you don't have to worry about a promise made in opposition because you'll never have to deliver. But win they did, so he committed to deliver it and then put a deadline on it. He said that they would have content quotas in place by 1 July 2024. In May 2024, an options paper was released, and they were investigating content quotas on revenue or content quotas on expenditure. They were at least making some progress—while making everyone participating in the consultation sign non-disclosure agreements. Again I'm standing here highlighting the lack of transparency of this government and its reliance on non-disclosure agreements.

What have we heard since May 2024? We heard, at the Senate estimates at that time, that the department was still working on the scheme to inform cabinet decisions. Since then, nada. We've heard rumours that the hold-up is now because it's a trade issue, but we've heard nothing. There hasn't been an exposure draft; 1 July came and went, and we are still waiting. The screen production industry in Australia is still waiting.

Even worse, what we are also seeing is a continuation of the failure to deliver on their promises. In the May budget last year, we saw a promise that the government would lift the cap on above-the-line costs for the producer offset to apply from 1 July 2024. Has the required legislation that needs to pass actually come through this place? Has it even come through the other place to ensure that can happen? No. It is nine months later; I could have had a baby in that amount of time!

Then, in MYEFO, there was a promise to lower the offset threshold, which would benefit some of our smaller screen industry businesses. Yet, again, where is the legislation to enable that? Time after time, this government is failing the Australian screen industry—the very industry that gave me my 0.2 seconds of fame when I appeared in the background of the Australian movie Two Hands. This government is turning its back on the Australian screen industry—unlike the Nationals, who, with Bryan Brown, were able to secure the 40 per cent— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.