While there were some interesting items, including a provision that ensures that in-game currency will no longer attract GST, Australia’s games industry has been left disappointed with the 2017 Federal Budget. Despite a Senate standing committee finding last April that the government needed to do more to support Australia’s video games industry, the budget contained no policies in response.
Ron Curry, the CEO of the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) has criticised the government’s lack of follow through. “It’s been more than a year since the Senate Standing Committee released its final report into the future of Australia’s video game development industry, which received bipartisan support and there’s still not a word from the Minister,” Mr Curry said.
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam led the Senate inquiry. He told Hyper that the budget had overlooked its findings.
“There’s no question it was neglected. It’s been completely ignored again,” Senator Ludlam said.
“Getting the government interested in the industry and in the recommendations for supporting it has been really difficult, including unfortunately this (Budget) week.”
The Senate inquiry was the subject of rare bipartisanship, with all members in agreement on the final report’s recommendations. These included resurrecting the Interactive Games Fund, encouraging developers to work together in partnerships similar to Melbourne’s Arcade, and building high-speed internet infrastructure to support the industry.
“I was pleased and it was very rare that you get a report like that handed down with everybody in strong agreement,” Senator Ludlam said.
“It becomes less of a surprise (that there was consensus) because the industry put on a really, really good story. People like Tony Reed and Ron Curry and others who just put a really good case forward that the industry was worthy of support, both from a digital arts kind of artistic perspective and also from an industry and economic perspective.”
Looking to the future, Ludlum has flagged his intention to introduce a motion in the Senate calling for the government to explain why it has yet to respond to the Inquiry. He is expected to do this when the Senate resumes on 12 June. This will be Senator Ludlam’s second attempt, after his first motion was prevented by a procedural issue.
“What we were calling for was an explanation from the government as to why they haven’t bothered to respond to the report yet,” he explained. “For a procedural reason, nobody’s fault really, that hasn’t taken place (yet) but we will stay on it,” he said.
“There are great proposals afoot, one belonging to the former government that we considered in the Senate enquiries that we did a year or two ago.”
“We’re wanting to see action rather than just opinion”
Susan Templeman is the Member for Macquarie. A member of Parliament’s Arts Committee, she is active in promoting arts policy in Labor’s caucus.
“What we’re seeing is that the government has been again caught flat-footed when it comes to the gaming industry,” Ms Templeman said. “They are so out of touch that it’s like the country is being run by people who still think interactive gaming is when you do a newspaper crossword.”
“It’s a vibrant industry, with great potential and Australia should be taking it seriously.”
“When Labor was in government we released the cultural policy, Creative Australia, and we made it clear you can’t have a serious policy about Australian creativity that doesn’t also involve a serious response to the gaming industry. Obviously, the future will depend on what or if the current government takes any action at all, but I would be urging that we maximise the growth opportunities in this creative and innovative sector.”
The government has previously defended the 2014 removal of the Interactive Games Fund on budgetary grounds. In October 2015, Arts Minister Mitch Fifeld told a Senate Estimates hearing that the decision to cut the $20 million fund had to be seen in the context of the government’s objective to return the budget to surplus.