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Aussie Federal Government knocks back local games industry

Aussie game industry's call for assistance denied by federal government; games association starts petition to mobilise local support.

Australia's peak game developers body is urging the locals to directly petition the federal government after its call for greater support for the industry was denied.

The Games Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA) had previously asked the government for a 40 percent investment rebate announced for the Australian film industry in this year's budget to be extended to the interactive entertainment sector. The GDAA, in its submission to Communication, Information Technology, and the Arts minister Senator Helen Coonan, specifically asked for the "immediate formation" of a working committee to examine the introduction of the rebate, as well as support for payroll tax incentives.

In a written response to the GDAA's submission, Senator Coonan reiterated that games producers would not be seeing the 40 percent rebate extended to their industry. "The Screen Media Support Package announced in the Budget has the potential to benefit screen content producers of all kinds. While games will not be eligible for the tax offsets announced as part of the Package, the introduction of a Location Offset is expected to have positive indirect flow-on effects for screen businesses, as digital and visual companies develop larger and more skilled workforces," the Minister's letter stated.

The GDAA is now asking the local games industry and individual gamers to lend their support via an online petition. The petition--which can be found on the GDAA's official Web site--includes a form letter/e-mail which can be used to send to Senator Coonan's office or to the sender's local federal member.

GDAA CEO Greg Bondar said the introduction of a rebate would have led to an additional A$25 million in new investment into Australian-developed titles. "We have been trying to bring our situation to the attention of Federal Government for a long time now and this sort of response is disheartening to say the least. The Minister is not offering anything tangible to our industry," he said.

Bondar told GameSpot AU the GDAA had also approached the federal opposition about introducing the 40 percent rebate should Labor win office at the next election. Opposition spokesman for Communications and Information Technology Senator Stephen Conroy has already met with GDAA representatives, with Bondar saying Conroy was "very sympathetic" to the game sector's calls. The GDAA has another meeting set up with Senator Conroy to further discuss the issue on October 19.

35 Comments

  • zpxkjp

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 10:49 am GMT

    Not surprising, governments prefer to waste the peoples money not use it for good causes.

  • Silicon_Noob

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:51 pm GMT

    Once again the Howard government shows itself as old and out of touch, they probably still see gaming as a trivial industry for children, rather than a major money maker rivaling Hollywood. If anything it would be more beneficial to give the money to the gaming industry than to the film industry, as the worlds gaming industry isn't based around an american studio monopoly like the film industry which has muscles most alternate filmakers out of theatre circulation. The bottom line is our games are more likely to be competitive and compare favorably against foreign games, so rather than supporting our film industry which regularly churns out deficit financial yeilds, our government may actually see a profit by supporting our young programmers.

  • Spyder25000

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:41 pm GMT

    Damn goverment, mabey some one should show the sales charts of Halo (Micro$ofts money maker)
    I am in my younger years so i hope by the time i finish high school i can get a job making games Hmm mabey on the next census they should have "How many games have you bought" ect

  • lamprey263

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:12 pm GMT

    maybe Australia is waiting for another "Crocodile Dundee phenomenon" to help boost tourism, hence their support of film, so until a game can come out to boost Australian tourism, I don't think they're going to be getting any support

  • Night117

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:24 am GMT

    Good on ya Sagacious_Tien "Look at Canada. 10 years ago they introduced this, and now look - Bioware, Microsoft and Ubisoft have massive studios there and thrive - creating great games and pumping millions upon millions of dollars into the economy."

    Just what I had in mind I hope the Opposition will prove as promising on delivering grants for the gaming industry as much as they've been driving the hype for new internet infrastructure compared to the behind-the-times Howard government. Like Xequtra, I've also had to move up to Brisbane because so many studios are based here compared to Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and forget Adelaide or Darwin, they don't exist...Ho what? Hobart? Where's that? You get my point, I mean, Blazing Angels, Fury, Tabula Rasa etc., all the main hitters have come from Brisbane. Melbourne and Sydney play second fiddle at best, mainly assistant roles. Perth...well, given it's distance from everything, ofcourse it's got a unique position and there was their convention there last year and even Kojima spoke there man! WE NEED MONEY FFS!!! We get offers from the US of A and we're forced to turn it down not because we don't have the talent but because we lack the resources to deliver on time and ofcourse, we could use with more developers, designers, programmers etc. It's a bloody tragedy when people make fun of my line of work and ask in a larikin way "Ya makin any headway/dough/money/big bucks? lol ^&@$#!@^#$". This really ought not to be the situation when we could very well be like Canada and catch up to the US one day. If people need a simple example, bloody hell, Assasin's Creed by Ubisoft Montreal. Another stupid thing about the Howard government refusing to fund our industry is the fact that they're old school, and they don't know the business models and finances of what I like to call the 21st century's emerging new art form (which is still being debated: are games an art form?) and they rather stick to the tried-and-tested formula which are movies. Come on, with the existance of Hollywood, any local movie in any country will bomb if you unless you involve film studios from over there. Again, there's talent (Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Rose Byrne, Aby Cornish, Heath Ledger etc. etc. plus untold directors and producers etc.) and look, why do they deserve more money? They're already being paid millions of US dollars in Hollywood. Want an Australian name for fame? I'd think you're digging yourself a grave by supporting the rich man's industry that is the glitz and glam of movie making. How much do paparazos get for snaping a few new shots of our actors/actresses even? Probably my whole year's salary that's bloody what. And already no movie is being made but the Aussie name of fame is out there. Pretty simple but pretty darn true I gotta tell ya, so give up or bugger off Senator Coonan! Let the Opposition have it's say once and for all and hopefully bring Australia into the 21st century with climate change, healthcare, gaming, internet and so many other issues. I'm done venting my anger, tttttttttttttttttt--t-t-t-t-t-t-t that's all folks!

  • Xequtra

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 8:34 am GMT

    I had to leave NSW and went to Qld just because the government was supporting the industry and there were lots more courses here than back at home...

    Leaving home wasn't a hard decision knowing the lifestyle there was not I was after. Knowing that the federal government is doing near to nil about the pool of wasted talent makes Australia the prime candidate for the nation of inaction award. Can the government do more wrong? wait... they did more... What's worse than a government that lies too much? Those that think that they know what the people want.

  • Sagacious_Tien

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 5:52 am GMT

    themovie3nut,

    First of all, introducing this scheme is something that the government's own survey's suggested 3 years ago. Games development in Australia is stalling, and overseas markets are turning away from us due to our strong dollar and the U.S's weak dollar, and are turning to cheap labour and production in places like China and Taiwan.

    Australia seems to be behind making us a "smart state" (Beattie) and behind pushing our education (Howard), and stating that "Working class families have never been better" (Howard), but this single grant would give over 1000 workers jobs.

    It would create a stronger economy and a lower unemployment rate. These are very good things.

    Look at Canada. 10 years ago they introduced this, and now look - Bioware, Microsoft and Ubisoft have massive studios there and thrive - creating great games and pumping millions upon millions of dollars into the economy.

    This is something Australia can look to as guidance. Every other form of entertainment gets this break, and yet the video game industry has higher profits every year.

    More money is being invested in it every year, and without government assistance, Australia's gaming companies will struggle to continue.

    They are mainly contracted by outside publishers like Activision, EA and the rest to create their games for them, and get their fee. They can't make the games they want, they don't get to keep their IP or tech or engines or anything, and live on whatever scraps the rest of the world can drip-feed us.

    Unless they can create a low budget title that they can bank on, most are doing ports and low fi titles that don't stretch the imagination. Australia has great energy and a lot of talent - but it's being squandered.

    Government assistance is a necessity for gaming to continue in Australia. Everyone agrees on this, even the government's own research. Now we just got to get them to hand it over.

  • DarkDamo

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 5:21 am GMT

    "plus it probably isn't profitable"

    All your credibility was just lost.

  • themovi3nut

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 5:13 am GMT

    this is a good decision, theres enough things on the governments plate at the moment like burma and all to be messing around with some grant for video games, plus it probably isn't profitable

  • METJAM

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 4:28 am GMT

    its hardly surprsing from a right wing conservative country and government, with the amount of content / games that have been banned in aus its not surprsing they won't be giving any subsidies. People don't understand the revenue games and intractive media generate...

  • stinger822

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 4:14 am GMT

    signed and sent. By the way king_pin_87 um you do know that coonan is a chick right and not a guy "That idiot Coonan completely ignores the games industry in his reply to the GDAA"

  • metalisticpain

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:38 am GMT

    whacker40, i dont think labour would be keen to give the gaming industry money either, in this case no government is your friend

  • whacker40

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:28 am GMT

    i've been supporting the liberals for as long as i can remember. well, i'm not old enough to vote, but i can still support them. but now that they've done this i['ve lost some respect for them. you hear me liberals, one more slip up like this and i'm off to join Labour.

  • istylee

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:23 am GMT

    did my part! and sent it.

  • selbie

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:54 am GMT

    Another reason I'm voting Labor (or at least SOME party that can get things right for once). That {other word for a female dog} Coonan has been getting on my nerves for a long time! This is the final straw! Australia needs to support these industries because in future we will be depending on tertiary industries to support our economy. Our future climate will NOT support as much primary industry as we have now. We are blessed with the most skilled professionals in the world and yet the stupid government can't see past it's own back pockets.
    /RANT

  • kazuyasongoku

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:52 am GMT

    I've forwarded that email to 15 of my mates. I hope his inbox gets hammered.

  • solidte

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:48 am GMT

    Alrighties that does it, vote Labor!

  • finalsquall76

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:31 am GMT

    Signed

  • Tim57282

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:28 am GMT

    Well im off to do my bit for Aussie gamers.

    Petition here i come.

  • king_pin_87

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:27 am GMT

    Well I wasn't sure who to vote for, but since I want a job in the industry, I'm voting labor. While I don't know if they will give the games industry an investment rebate, I KNOW the liberals won't.

    That idiot Coonan completely ignores the games industry in his reply to the GDAA, saying that it helps movies, which THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT. That is like replying to the fire department about more money for there budget and saying you have given money to the police. It's completely irrelevant to the game industries situation.

  • RXHELL

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:47 am GMT

    Bet your arse I'm voting labor, this is just another reason.

  • LordLeckie

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:45 am GMT

    Petition here i come.

  • anthonysarah

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:12 am GMT

    I'll sighn it.

  • kazuyasongoku

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 11:51 pm GMT

    Well that's just ****ed up. I'm off to sign the petition.

  • the-very-best

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 11:12 pm GMT

    Well, that's just disappointing. Hopefully some Aussie talent can come up with something interesting though eventually.

  • TheJGene

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 11:12 pm GMT

    It simply amazes me that they wouldn't extend the grant to this sector of the entertainment industry. It shows a massive lack of foresight, and they they are way out of touch. Time to get real, H. Coonan is a twit and has proved it before now, hardly surprising to hear this from her office.

  • Spectre-123

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 10:47 pm GMT

    Can't they see where the games industry is headed? It's got massive potential yet they don't take advantage of it. Sigh.

  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 10:32 pm GMT

    Forget the petition it is a waste of time since they won't listen. Vote for Labor and we will get assistance and high speed broadband, we all win.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 10:29 pm GMT

    With France helping foster French gaming developers and Canadian/American cities offering tax breaks, Austrailia's refusal to see the potential of the industry shows just how backward they are. They can join Germany in the list of nations that don't matter when CryTek leaves that country, most likely to Canada.

  • Deano

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 10:14 pm GMT

    If they were even slightly informed they'd know the video game industry has a higher turnover per year than hollywood so investing in it is a wise venture. That's the problem when govt. is made up of older people pushing 60+ making decisions when they've never even played a video game in their life.

  • chris_yz80

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 9:37 pm GMT

    The entire government is messed up

  • Reldas89 posted Oct 2, 2007 9:27 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Reldas89

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 9:27 pm GMT (hide)

    GO Howard, Kevin sucks

  • Turbo-Evil

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 8:43 pm GMT

    Damn Howard. Kevin 07, yeah!

  • Ground_Zero

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 8:39 pm GMT

    well that blows and Senators???

  • raichudl

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 8:30 pm GMT

    that hurt. Some people are old school

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