Industry delegation lobbies for local content in Canberra

Marta Dusseldorp, Hugo Weaving, Leah Vandenberg and Rhys Muldoon are amongst industry names in Canberra today and tomorrow to campaign for local content requirements for digital platforms.

They were joined by director Gillian Armstrong, screenwriters Shane Brennan and Ellie Beaumont, cinematographer Andrew Conder, producers Barbara Stephen and Kevin Whyte and representatives from the Australian Directors’ Guild, Australian Writers’ Guild, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance and Screen Producers Australia.

The #MakeItAustralian campaigners will also argue for the retention of Australian and children’s content rules for commercial free-to-air and pay television, incentives to support production and sustainable funding for public broadcasters and Screen Australia.

“In a time of great challenge and change, telling our own Australian stories to each other and the world has never been more important,” said Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance chief executive Paul Murphy. “We will be urging federal politicians to not only keep in place Australian and children’s content rules for commercial television, but to extend them to the digital realm.”

“These rules ensure that a diverse array of Australian stories is shown on Australian screens, and without them we would be flooded with content that speaks with a British or American accent,” said Matthew Deaner, CEO of Screen Producers Australia. It is time that content regulation evolved to keep pace with changing audience and viewing habits so streaming services, ISPs and telcos also have obligations to invest in original local programming.”

The delegation is meeting with representatives of the Liberal, National, Labor, Green and Centre Alliance parties.