We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples and the Traditional Custodians of Ngunnawal Country, the land on which we meet today. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and also recognise any other people or families with connection to the ACT and Region.
Andrew Barr, ACT Chief Minister
The Chief Minister spoke on the newly released ACT Infrastructure Plan and the National Capital Investment Framework.
In the last twelve months to March 2023 the ACT had:
- 5.57 million visitors, the highest growth in domestic overnight visitation of all states and territories.
- $3.33 billion in visitor expenditure, surpassing our previous record by 10%.
We're on track to reach our tourism 2030 target of $4 billion expenditure.
- Tourism is strong in ACT, while rate increases impact spending behaviour, it seems we could see inflation fall without seeing employment increase, especially in the ACT.
- We acknowledge the struggle employers may have in finding staff at the moment.
Where to for tourism?
"Our greatest capacity for future growth is in international markets".
- International aviation network: Canberra airport now has Fiji Airways flying three times a week. We're also focused on connections through New Zealand and Singapore.
- The recent decision to not allow Qatar Airways to expand their services in to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane means they could look to secondary airports like us.
- Domestically, we're working with low cost carriers and getting further connected to other cities in Australia.
National Capital Investment Framework
Announced recently, the framework will be led by Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate from the ACT perspective, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from the Commonwealth perspective.
- Various agencies will be coordinating to deliver the work, at an ACT and Commonwealth level.
What are we working on?
- MOU has been signed with the AIS, and the Commonwealth has already funded the arena restoration.
- Entertainment precinct including the theatre and new convention centre facilities.
- Cultural instutions funding renewed by the Cth, and the ACT are partnering on a program of major events to support those institutions.
- These events have had a 100 : 1 return on investment.
"There's no other event category that compares with cultural tourism in terms of return on investment. I can't think of a better partnership than ours with the national cultural institutions."
- Working with the NCA on the Commonwealth Park Master Plan including improvements to Stage 88 and a new location for the city pool.
- New plan to increase use of City Hill Precinct. With development occurring around the hill, its important we make it a place for our people.
- Aviation was touched on before.
- Land transport includes Light Rail Stage 2A, and working with Commonwealth on Stage 2B to ensure stops allow visitors and workers access to our cultural institutions and their precinct.
- We continue to work with the NSW Govt. and Cth on the Canberra City Rail Corridor. We want more frequent rail services between Canberra and Sydney.
- Housing and road infrastructure includes support for ACT exporters to access preferential Cth trade agreements like those in works with India and the EU.
- Housing is a topical debate at the moment, for Canberra, we need to grow our labor market and those people need somewhere to live. We're looking at how the Cth could contribute land towards our housing goals e.g., previous CSIRO land.
- Road infrastructure includes work like the Monaro Highway, Commonwealth Avenue Bridge Project and the Molonglo Valley Bridge Project.
- "We're also keen to continue to invest in an active transport infrastructure like the Garden City Cycleway"
These are projects and programs that will present opportunities for the ACT Government to partner with the Commonwealth in business case development and in alignment of new infrastructure.
"There is now extensive coordination between the two levels of government to ensure our infrastructure and financing priorities are aligned. I intend to take advantage of it."
Question: Thank you Chief Minister, in your infrastructure plan you said if the Commonwealth granted support for civil infrastructure projects, we'd be able to fast-track them - is that the case now?
Chief Minister Barr: Yes to the extent that where financing might have been an obstacle. There are obviously still planning processes and sequencing that's necessary. For example, we need a new pool before we build on the current pool site. We do have unencumbered land reserved for civil infrastructure projects, for example surface car parks which can be used once car parking infrastructure currently underway is complete.
David Pocock, Independent Senator for the ACT
Senator Pocock spoke on City Partnerships, the necessity for greater investment by the Commonwealth Government and launched the ACT infrastructure investment campaign 'A Vision for Canberra'.
- Thank you to the Chief Minister for his words.
- It is well known the Chief Minister and myself do not agree on parts of the Infrastructure Plan like the stadium, but I'm here to focus on what we agree on - that there needs to be more investment in the ACT.
- I thank those in the room who have advocated for - sometimes decades - and pushed for infrastructure we need.
- We know Canberra needs a new stadium, housing, transport infrastructure, a convention centre. We need to be connected to Sydney, with faster trains for example.
We need support for our world-leading startups, we have the most startups per capita in the country. It's something we can build upon into the future.
- Thankyou to those who have consulted about what an infrastructure plan should look like for Canberra.
What are the key pieces and what is our vision?
Housing, innovation, events, transport. These pillars underpin our collective vision for Canberra.
- As we heard, the Chief Minister and Prime Minister launched the Capital Investment Framework, while it is light on the details, it is so good to see a commitment to working on the nation's capital.
The ACT is the only jurisdiction to not have signed one of the 12 city deals or regional deals since 2016. Those deals were worth over $10 billion in federal funding and not a cent went to the ACT. This is something that is long overdue.
- Thirty-five business groups signed a letter to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister earlier this year asking for this, so we now have this framework.
Now we need to make sure we've got the right plan and we're consulted correctly to be setup for the future.
- One of the frustrations of being in the Senate, is how people talk about funding for Canberra. While the funding for cultural institutions was needed and is valued and worthy, it's hard to argue that it is the same level of infrastructure investment we see going into other cities.
It's important for the national capital but we are more than that, we are a city in our own right.
- We've got a thriving business community and people who want to see Canberra move forward into the future.
- We don't have the infrastructure to host large events, for example the FIFA Womens World Cup.
- It's even more dire when you talk about the Convention Centre. I hadn't realised in 2001 the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting was moved from Canberra because the facilities weren't up to scratch. That's over 20 years ago.
- Of the 145 international business events listen publicly on the Association of Australian Convention's calendar from 2023-2029, not one is being hosted in Canberra.
We're missing out and its time we changed that. I believe we can work with the ACT and Federal government to make that change.
My team and I have consulted and have put together a plan, and we welcome further feedback to ensure this Framework delivers what we need it to.
This site is intended to be a vision for what we should be working towards as a city. It's also a place to welcome engagement from our community, and to explain why certain developments - like the Convention Centre - are valuable and what they could deliver.
- On the site, there's the four pillars along with explanations of benefits for key projects.
- Some of the projects on this site have been announced but haven't been acted on. For example unlocking land for things like housing. This land should be used for our future.
- I'd really like to say a massive thank you to to all of you for what you do for our, city, what you do for our region, and for the engagement that I've had with you so far and for the work that Tom and Fiona have done in in putting this together.
We're putting together a pre-budget submission for the Federal Government based on what we're hearing. We really believe this is a real opportunity to reverse the neglect done to the Nations Capital.
- There's some perception that putting money into Canberra is not politically favorable. We have to change that, we can change that.
- Thank you for your time and input today.
Question: As you've been talking to the politicians involved with the Plan, do you think the money is really coming? When do you think we'll see tangible evidence of their support?
Senator Pocock: We're aiming for the next budget, it makes sense to me. I sit at Senate Estimates and hear the money and projects going to other states, for example Brisbane's $2.5 billion for an 80,000 person Olympics arena. Historically the ACT hasn't asked for money though, this is about putting together a concrete ask with broad buy-in and stakeholder support. And as the Chief Minister pointed out, now's the opportunity.
Question: Is there any sense of urgency from the Commonwealth, for example more funding for national institutions? And, what can the industry do to assist you?
Senator Pocock: There's two parts when I think about it:
- The ongoing year-on-year infrastructure investment, which we've been behind on compared to other states.
- Then there's the one-off projects and deals done with cities and regional towns, we've missed out there too.
We want the National Capital - and the city in it's own right - to be valued in both. There's been challenges in making the case to the Government, but that's changing. We now have the Prime Minister living here and I'm hoping they'll see the value in having a capital city that isn't one of the least well-known in the world. To see value in being able to host events like the UN COP.
John De Margheriti, Chair and CEO of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE)
John spoke about his investment in growing the film industry in Canberra and Australia.
David welcomed John, and described him as "the father of the Australian games industry" having founded the AIE in 1996 through a collaboration with the ACT Govt. and CIT.
The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) is a RTO and an institute of higher education focusing on developing Australia's video game and film industries.
Not all AIE graduates are employed in the video game industry. Aerospace, transportation, education, health, architecture, Defence and training organisations also employ our graduates.
- In 1996, there was nowhere to hire 3D artists or teach them. The partnership in Canberra aimed to create jobs for our industry and Australia more widely.
- "Although I should have retired, I'm focused on creating a not-for-profit legacy of sorts."
- We've established a revolutionary filmmaking course by providing advanced filmmaking technologies to our students in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide, such as visual production studios on every campus.
- Virtual production studios like this are new - Netflix's 1899, Disney's Mandalorian and Thor 'Love and Thunder' were created using techniques and a studio like the ones we use to develop our course curriculum.
- Thanks to the ACT Government's investment recently we were able to establish these types of studios and create that course content.
- The Game Developers Association of Australia created the Australian Game Developers Conference, and took this industry from a few million dollars to now generate $4 billion a year.
- Much of that is not in Canberra unfortunately.
- Recently the gaming industry was rewarded by the introduction of a federal government digital gaming tax offset. Now, you can gain rebates for 30% on the development cost of making video games. With a low Australian Dollar we're now seeing a year on year growth of 25%, the industry is going through the roof as is a massive demand for our students.
- AIE graduates work across the industry, but also in film, which has a $4 billion industry and a 30 to 40% tax offset for films and TV series.
- Incoming legislation regarding international streaming will require producers to spend a certain percentage of investment on Australian content. This will cause a flood of jobs.
We can't create enough students for the demand.
- Our students get direct jobs but also training, cash and co-working spaces to start up their companies. Through this student-first approach, they've created over 110 gaming companies, all from Canberra but that's not widely known.
- AIE also funds feature films where our students gain paid places, for example, Ladies in Black. And Sissy, which was nominated for three AACTA Awards.
AIE's new Watson campus
- $200 million project owned entirely by the AIE not-for-profit.
- Normally these projects are funded by state or federal governments.
- In time we will attract commercial projects where our graduates can find employment.
- With this plan, we aim to build or attract a feature film to Canberra by 2025, with the main educational building ready by 2026.
- We hope to have the bid for a federal infrastructure grant approved in the next budget cycle. It will create jobs, talent and innovative products for the ACT.
- COVID-19 has impacted our development timeline though. Without the international student numbers, we have deferred student accommodation to Stage 2.
- We'll offer a range of new courses to attract students and films to the ACT.
- The facilities are listed in the plan, however include a 1200 SQM Soundstage with Virtual Production Studio capable of producing any Hollywood blockbuster.
- This will hopefully attract film production, but also we'll fund 20-30% of the budget, making the ACT very attractive to the local film market.
What can you look forward to?
- By 2030 we aim to produce two feature films or TV series per year, in the ACT with a combined spend of approx. $25 million. This could go as high as $40 million each year, with the right number of students and production boards.
We are focused on building Canberra's film industry.
- What a great time for this project. We now have Senators like David Pocock and Katy Gallagher who are infrastructure focused. Minister Tara Cheyne is very supportive of the Arts and our Chief Minister is focused on building this city.
Question: What is it about Canberra that appeals to film makers?
John: In Canberra we have reach into a lot of different industries and geography, including good weather, blue skies and snow nearby. It's quicker and easy to work with the ACT Government too, to access the right people to get things done.
Gordon Ramsay, CEO of the Cultural Facilities Corporation
Gordon spoke about Canberra’s new theatre, and the future development of the Canberra Museum & Gallery (CMAG) as a key ACT and national arts and heritage organisation.
- Thankyou for organising, its great to be here today.
- I'd like to speak about the Cultural Facilities Corporation, where we've been and our new direction.
- Most Canberrans may not know much about us individually, they know our actions. We have responsibility for Canberra Theatre, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Mugga Mugga Cottage and Calthorpe House.
- Over the past few years, the CFC has become more outwardly-focussed.
- Last year we did some strategy work and decided we needed to drive our purpose forward rather than just focussing on recovering from COVID-19.
From here on, we're not talking about reclaiming 2019, but we're moving into a new way of operating.
- But we're not underestimating the impact of COVID on the arts, which we estimate was the deepest hit part of the economy.
- The CFC were delighted to hear of the investment in the Arts by the ACT Government.
Visitor data for CMAG and Canberra Theatre Centre. You can see the COVID drop and a steady growth of visitor numbers.
- These numbers exceeded our targets for 2021-2022. 4 in 5 Canberrans experienced one or more of our sites - absolutely amazing.
- The leadership at the CFC are an energetic team and many of them join me here today.
- Currently, we're looking to transfrom the experience in the CBD. CMAG and the Theatre sit at opposite ends of Civic Square, and we want it not to be the desolate dry space it currently is.
- We're working closely with the City Renewal Authority and Craft and Design ACT to ensure the city is warm, attractive and has energy.
- We want to re-vamp the way CMAG is viewed and how it interacts with new audiences.
We want a national hub of creative excellence.
- For example, last year the Knowles Place Walkways were beautified with murals, and we turned the former Elections ACT office into a collaborative art space.
- During Enlighten we enhanced lighting instalments with walking dinosaur puppets, to bring festival-goers beyond the major cultural institutions.
- The industrial design Light, Colour and Humanity exhibition was held in a new gallery space in London Circuit.
- We're driving energy into Civic Square, including screening the Australia vs. Argentina 2022 World Cup game.
- More recently we held a family-focused exhibition called 'How Cities Work' which drew 9000 people during the school holidays - doubling visitors to CMAG, with two thirds of those people having never visited the area before.
- We believe in engaging with new audiences as well as repeat audiences.
- CMAG also won the Best Permanent Exhibition Award for 'Canberra/Kamberri'.
- Recently the performance by Bangara of 'Come From Away' had a five week season in Canberra.
- Another highlight was the world premiere of 'Julia' which was co-produced with Sydney Theatre. We were pleased with the performance and the co-production model. It had a sellout season with a standing ovation every performance. Its a great example of where we can head in the future.
- To those waiting for a new convention centre, hang in there, we sometimes joke that the design for the new theatre started in 1966.
- We are now confident Canberra can host a world-class performing centre, a refreshed Playhouse, a flexible flat floor camera theater, and a reworked courtyard studio. This combined means seating capacity grows to around 5,000 people.
The facilities will be capable of hosting any production that can be hosted anywhere in the world.
- We look forward to announcing further projects and for Canberra to have a cultural arts centre that matches the quality of our national cultural institutions.
- We know the ROI for the arts is significant, we're proud to stack up economically and wellbeing wise.
Final announcements
- CIT are having fee-free short course blitz, face to face or online. Visit the online portal to see a variety of tourism and hospitality courses.
Next forum Monday 4 September 2023.
- 9:00am: Hon Kristy McBain MP, Member for Eden-Monaro and Minister for Regional Development and Territories
- 9:20am: Shane Rattenbury MLA, Leader of the ACT Greens and ACT Attorney General
- 9:40am: Neil Gaughan ACT Chief Police Officer and Deputy AFP Commissioner
Credits:
Created with an image by FiledIMAGE - "Parliament of Australia"