Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before I start, I would like to acknowledge the previous speaker, the member for Macquarie, for that very fine contribution to the House. As a special envoy, I know she carries out her duty with great passion and care. She should be commended for the work that she does. Thank you.

I stand today to speak in strong support of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025—a bill that ensures that, no matter where they live, where they stream or what device they watch it on, Australians will always be able to see a bit of themselves on screen. Whether you're 'home and away' or just popping in to see your 'neighbours', this bill guarantees that Australian stories remain on Australian screens. It's about making sure our voices, our humour, our landscapes and the real Australian accents don't get lost in the noise of global content. We're not just a country that consumes stories; we are creators of them.

This bill delivers on a core commitment in our national cultural policy, Revive, ensuring that streaming services invest in Australian content so that our screen industry, our creatives and our communities all share in the benefits. As someone from Adelaide's north, I know what opportunity looks like when it's backed by government and action. The same way we've supported manufacturing, defence and apprenticeships, this bill supports the next generation of storytellers, filmmakers, editors and animators. The communications legislation amendment bill makes one simple promise—if you're making money from Australian audiences, you should be investing in Australian stories. It's pretty simple.

Under this legislation, major streaming platforms with over a million Australian subscribers, like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and others, will need invest a minimum of 10 per cent of their total Australian program expenditure on new local drama, documentary, children's, arts or educational content. Alternatively, they can contribute 7½ per cent of their Australian revenue to meet the same goal. It's simple, it's fair, and it's long overdue. For too long, we've been told that streaming services are different, that they exist outside of the rules that apply to free-to-air and pay television. But, when you're charging Australians for subscriptions, when you're part of our entertainment diet, when our shows dominate the cultural conversation, you have responsibilities too—responsibilities to invest locally, to tell Australian stories and to hire Australian talent.

When Australians turn on their screens, they should see their stories reflected back, whether it's a gritty true crime story, an animated family of dogs teaching us all life lessons or a surf lifesaver in Summer Bay, because those moments of recognition matter. They make us laugh, they make us proud, and, sometimes, they even make us cry. This bill ensures those moments don't vanish into the algorithm. It brings streaming platforms into the same fair framework that already applies to broadcasters. If you ask me, that's just common sense. As Kath Day-Knight might put it: 'It's noice. It's different. It's unusual.'

We're a creative nation. We've given the world The Castle; Picnic at Hanging Rock; The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Mad Max; Muriel's Wedding; Crocodile Dundee; Red Dog; The Dry; and Bluey. Each one is a reminder that our stories, when told authentically, have a power that resonates globally. But they also start small, in communities like mine in the north, with local filmmakers and creative graduates taking their first steps. For every Oscar-winning performance by Nicole Kidman or Cate Blanchett, there's a local production assistant working on their first short film at Elizabeth TAFE. As this bill reminds us, if we want our next generation of storytellers to thrive, we have to make space for them to start.

When it comes to the north, we have our fair share of creatives leading the way, like award-winning director Justin Kurzel, who brought the haunting story of Snowtown to the world and, just a few years later, reimagined Macbeth as a striking historical epic. His success reminds us that talent from our suburbs can capture the world's attention and that the next generation of filmmakers in Australia can turn local stories into international cinema. That's what this bill delivers—guaranteed access for Australian audiences to Australian content and guaranteed investment into the local industry. Revive, the national cultural policy, was built around the one simple belief that our people and their stories are our greatest cultural asset. This bill turns that belief into law. It makes sure that Australian stories don't just survive; they thrive. Frankly, if we can binge-watch three seasons of The Office in a weekend, we can certainly make room for Utopia or Rosehaven.

This legislation doesn't just talk about culture; it delivers for the economy. The Australian screen industry already supports more than 50,000 jobs. Every film, every series and every documentary made here creates work for actors, sound engineers, set builders, caterers, drivers and designers. The benefits ripple through local economies, and that's true for Adelaide's north too. Our communities and our TAFE campuses provide the pathways for the next generation of storytelling. This bill helps solidify that pathway. It's a jobs and justice policy for the creative sector, ensuring that, when global giants profit here, Australian workers share in the dividends. It's fair, because the same principle applies across our economy—if you make money in Australia, you invest it back into Australia. That's the foundation of the Future Made in Australia agenda, and it's just as relevant to culture as it is to critical minerals or clean energy.

We've all had that experience of opening a streaming app, ready to relax after a long day, and being flooded with options that are anything but local—endless lists of shows about New York lawyers or London detectives or maybe even a Nordic noir crime thriller. Sometimes you just want to see someone in the suburbs and landmarks you know, like Kath Knight telling off Kel for wearing a Sydney Swans scarf or Ray Shoesmith trying to balance a life of crime with trying to be a good dad. This bill generates that balance, ensuring that, no matter how global the content landscapes become, there will always be room for stories grounded in the Australian experience. It ensures that, when the next Underbelly, Offspring or SeaChange comes along, there's space and funding for it to be made.

It also helps ensure that shows like Bluey, which is now our most iconic export since Vegemite or the Tim Tam, have a future. Bluey didn't come out of nowhere; it was born from years of sustained investment in children's content. If we lose those frameworks, we lose the foundation for the next generation of Australian success stories. And, as any parent will you, if we lose Bluey, bedtime negotiations across the country will collapse overnight. Yes, this bill is partly about national security—the security of parents' sanity—but it's also about identity, belonging and opportunity. It says to every kid watching TV in Gawler, Salisbury or Elizabeth: 'Your world matters. Your story matters. You belong here.' That's powerful.

The bill also supports documentary production—a genre where Australia punches well above its weight. Our documentaries tackle big issues, from The Australian Dream to Working Class Boy, Back Roads and Australia in Colour. These are stories that educate, challenge and inspire. They capture who we are, where we've been and where we're going. This bill ensures that that kind of storytelling has a sustainable future too. Importantly, the legislation has a built-in flexibility. It includes a three-year carry-over period for investment, giving streaming services the time to plan major projects. It also mandates a statutory review for four years after commencement, ensuring it continues to meet its goals effectively.

There are sensible exemptions, too. This isn't about hobbyists uploading to YouTube or niche services streaming wedding videos; it applies to the big players—the ones with serious market presence and serious profits. That's why it is fair, proportionate and enforceable. Civil penalties apply for breaches because we're serious about this.

That's what we do as the Labor Party; we protect and solidify the arts. We recognise that a nation's creativity is not a luxury; it's a foundation—one that fuels innovation, identity and pride. We back the painters, the playwrights, the performers and the producers because we know that, when Australian art thrives, Australia thrives. We do it not for applause or accolades but because storytelling in every form is how we strengthen the social fabric that binds us together.

This bill also protects innovation. By ensuring a steady flow of investment into local production, it encourages creative risk taking—the kind that leads to new voices, new genres and new success stories. We know from experience that, when Australians tell their stories, the world listens. The Dry brought the Mallee to the big screen. Lion told of a story that spanned continents. The Twelve showed that Aussie courtroom drama can rival anything out of Hollywood. This is the pipeline we're protecting, and we do it not because we fear global content but because we value local creativity.

It's also about balance—cultural and economic. In recent years, global streaming services have spent billions worldwide on content but only a fraction of that in Australia. This bill fixes that imbalance. It ensures that Australian subscribers aren't just paying for foreign content; they're helping fund Australian production too. That's not protectionism; that's participation. It's saying, 'If you're part of our cultural ecosystem, you play by the same rules as everyone else.' I'd argue that that's as fair as splitting the bill at the pub—everyone chips in for their fair share.

We should also recognise how this legislation supports regional Australia. More and more productions are being filmed outside capital cities, and that's good news for places like the Barossa, the Riverland and Adelaide's north. When crews roll into town, they book local hotels, hire local transport and eat at local cafes. The economic multiplier is real, and every dollar spent on screen production benefits the broader community. That's why this bill matters not just to Sydney or Melbourne but to every region that wants to be part of Australia's storytelling future.

In a world of deepfakes, AI generated voices and synthetic scripts, authenticity matters more than ever. You can train an algorithm to mimic a voice, but you can't code an Aussie sense of humour. You can't fake the heart of The Sullivans or the warmth of McLeod's Daughters. You can't replicate the chaos of Rake or the absurd brilliance of Utopia. Those shows work because they're grounded in who we are. This bill ensures that that identity endures and evolves in the digital age.

I also want to acknowledge the arts workers who have been calling for this reform for years: writers, producers, directors, editors and crews—people who love this country enough to tell its stories. They've waited long enough for fair treatment. This government listened, and we're delivering. The previous government spent a decade talking about creative industries without giving them the creative certainty they needed, but we're changing that. We're turning commitment into legislation, and we're doing it because we believe that storytelling is nation building. It shapes how we see ourselves and how the world sees us.

For me, this bill also speaks to fairness—something Australians instinctively understand. If a teacher in Elizabeth pays taxes, if a nurse in Gawler contributes to super and if a tradie in Munno Para follows the rules, why should multibillion-dollar streaming companies be the exception? Everyone should do their bit. That's what fairness looks like, and fairness is what this bill delivers.

Whether you're watching Heartbreak High or Hey Hey It's Saturday, Gladiators or Glitch, you'll know that what's on your screen is part of something bigger—a fair go for Australian stories. Maybe that's the real takeaway here—that our screens aren't just entertainment; they're mirrors. They show us who we are, where we've been and what we can become. Whether you're watching from a lounge in Virginia, a kitchen in Truro or a shed in Angle Vale, you'll always have access to stories that sound like home. That's what this bill guarantees. As The Castle taught us, when you stand up for what's right, 'it's the vibe'—it's the vibe of fairness, creativity and community. It's the vibe of Australia. For that reason, I proudly commend the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025 to the House.

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