Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Wake in Frightsometimes that happens when I'm in Canberra. Death in Brunswickthat happens in my electorate. Breaker Morant and Gallipoli are great historical stories. Picnic at Hanging Rock; Lantana; Phar Lap; The Castle, which is another great favourite; Strictly Ballroom; Two Hands; WalkaboutI could go on about great Australian cinema. I've got some for you, Deputy Speaker Georganas: Acropolis Now, Our Generation, The Wog Boy. There was all of that great TV that we saw growing up: The Slap, Skippy the Bush Kangaroodo you remember that one? I watched that when I was a kid. Then there's Kath and Kim. Look at me, Deputy Speaker; I'm talking about Kath and Kim. The Secret Life of Us, Mystery Road, Heartbreak High, and on and on—it's great Australian television. My kids watch InvestiGators. That was on the ABC. It's a fantastic show for kids.

This is what this is about. The Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill is about supporting Australian storytellers, Australian cinema and Australian TV and about making sure, in amending through the Communications Legislation Amendment Bill, that we introduce content obligations on streaming services to make sure that, no matter which screen people are watching on, they have guaranteed access to Australian stories. We've always been a nation of storytellers, from the world's oldest continuous cultures—the First Nations storytellers—to the more modern storytellers that have brought to life the modern multicultural stories of ours to our screens, both the small screen and the silver screen. The screen industry is one of the most powerful platforms we have to share Australian stories—to share our stories with the world—whether it's Crocodile Dundee or Kath and Kim.

This bill ensures that our national identity, our voices, our experiences and our creativity are not only preserved but projected out proudly to future generations and to audiences across the globe. This bill will amend the Broadcasting Services Act to introduce an Australian screen content requirement for subscription video-on-demand services and will guarantee a minimum level of expenditure on new Australian content on streaming services. This is about ensuring access to Australian content and making sure that it's made readily available to and not unreasonably denied of Australian consumers and international audiences. This bill is going to require that streaming services with more than one million Australian subscribers invest at least 10 per cent of their total expenditure in Australia or 7.5 per cent of their revenue on new local drama, children's TV or film, documentary, and arts and educational programming.

The bill marks a major shift in how Australians will access Australian made content. The world has changed. We know that Australian stories are fundamental to shaping our national identity. I say that in the sense that—people might think it is just TV or movies. But what the screen does, what those stories do, is contribute to our social cohesion as a nation. It reflects back to the community the stories. Seeing ourselves on the screen is all about being able to express culturally what we're about and who we are and to help us understand who we are, what we're on about and sometimes why we are—when you get some of those deeper artistic efforts.

The national cultural policy, Revive, affirmed a simple truth that the people of Australia and the stories we tell are effectively our greatest cultural asset. They are worth every dollar because they tell the story of us. And the power of seeing ourselves on the small and large screen is so undeniably important because the stories cultivate community. They share the experiences that we have with each other, and a sense of belonging is nurtured by telling those stories, being part of those stories and seeing ourselves reflected back on the screen. As a kid, I remember getting so excited when there was an Australian film or television show with Australian accents. You'd get a lot of American television and so on, and some of the sitcoms were very funny and great, but there was a certain buzz and excitement when you'd watch BMX Bandits or shows like Skippy, or whatever it might be, with Australian accents on the screen. That was important for us growing up.

We also get to see our values reflected, our diversity and our character. In a sense, the stories on the screen show the world who we are. They also give us a way to interpret our past, to define our present and to showcase the creativity that exists here in Australia by putting it out on the global stage. We know that the world has changed the way that we consume media, art, television and film. Streaming services now dominate the media landscape in many respects. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found that the majority of Australians use streaming services as their preferred method for consuming screen content. That's about 81 per cent of Australians subscribing to at least one streaming service. That's a significant shift in the way that we consume this content. In Australia, we're spending a whopping $3.8 billion on videostreaming services and have a total of 26.6 million videostreaming accounts. Yet, until now, until this bill, these services have had no obligation whatsoever to invest in the country from which they have profited or are profiting.

Writers, performers, producers, directors, costume and make-up artists, set designers, gaffers—I could go on, but I don't know all the technical roles that exist. All Australian creatives deserve to have the streaming giants invest in their talent and in their work, their brilliant work, and I'm not alone in saying that. The majority of Australian streaming-service users agree that it's important to have Australian stories, voices and culture platformed on these services. There have been a number of studies done on this. Australians want to see more Australian content available to them. Beyond this, we can't overstate the importance of the Australian screen industry, for not just entertainment but our economy.

This is an industry that creates Australian jobs, innovation, cultural identity and international influence. It's an industry that employs tens of thousands of people, such as writers, editors, actors and technicians, and many others whose contributions often go unseen unless you sit there—and you should, by the way—until the end of the credits. It takes a lot of work and effort to produce some of those films and TV shows. This all depends on a strong local industry. But to be clear: I've heard it said that more people go to the NGV, the National Gallery of Victoria, than the MCG. Therefore, there is this great notion of looking at all the arts and of people enjoying the arts more than they're enjoying sports. And remember that Melbourne is the sporting capital, so that's quite a statistic. But do you know what I'd say to that too? I'd say that that's great, but not all of the arts is commercially viable.

There is a place for us to provide support for emerging artists, for new art and for new film and television as it emerges. Otherwise, we won't have an industry. It can't just be totally based on the commercial value. Otherwise, we'd just be making Hollywood productions up in Queensland. That's an important part of the industry, but having Dwayne Johnson run around with his top off and pretend to be in Los Angeles while he's in the Gold Coast is not an Australian story. Let's be honest about that. It's filmed in Australia but it's not an Australian story. While it's important for work for those creatives, I'm talking about Australian stories.

When you speak to people in the industry, it's this idea of a strong local industry that is such a point of advocacy. It's been something that has characterised the debate around the streaming services and the lack of obligation to provide some of their revenue towards local content.

I recently met with a constituent, Sky Davies, who is a cinematographer and screen practitioner in my electorate of Wills. I've met with a number of creatives in my electorate. Wills, in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, has one of the highest concentrations of creatives in Australia, I would say. She was joined by all these screen practitioners. There was Ryan. There was Mike. There was Con. All of them have felt the devastating decline in Australian stories, and not having any quotas for local content on streaming services has impacted their work, particularly in Victoria.

I mentioned some of the film work that's happening up in Queensland. That's great. But Victoria and other states suffer when you don't have the local content. The number of crew members is at a historic low. There's a very high attrition rate. People are being forced out of the industry due to depleted employment opportunities. The group expressed to me that the situation is so dire that, if this continued, in one year probably only one member of the group would be sitting in our meeting as a working creative.

For decades, the Australian screen industry thrived because of the Australian content requirements on free-to-air TV. Quotas for local content have long been required for free-to-air broadcast, but they have not existed for the streaming services as they've emerged and taken over a lot of the platforms that people use to watch content. In the past, those requirements ensured that our screens reflected our lives as Australians, reflected us back to ourselves and reflected our stories. They ensured that, when we turned on the TV, we saw our cities, our unique humour, our history and our culture on the screen. But the world has changed and the way Australians engage with and watch content has shifted, as I mentioned earlier. There has been a 17.5 per cent decline in the number of Australian titles this year alone and a large reduction in overseas investment from streaming services.

Before politics, I worked as an executive at SBS. I've worked in film finance, financing independent film. I'm very passionate about the importance of local content and telling Australian stories. When I was at SBS, we brought on NITV to be part of SBS. The profound impact of telling First Nations stories, not just for Indigenous people across Australia but for all Australians, has been really felt and benefits have developed from that.

It's also about telling our multicultural stories—who we are as a nation. Earlier in my speech I referred to Acropolis Now and some of these other multicultural sitcoms, and we had a laugh about that. They were great shows—

See this speech in context