There’s a dinky-di reason the member for Macarthur, Dr Mike Freelander, is pictured with Costa Georgiadis, the host of Gardening Australia, a program that appears on ABC TV.
Costa, as most people call him, presents gardening stories with a uniquely Australian flavour.
Dr Freelander is a big supporter of Australian content and has welcomed legislation that mandates more of it on our screens.
He has also backed in a $50 million funding boost for the ABC to support the production of new Australian children’s and drama content.
“Supporting Australian content is so important, both for our national identity and for our arts and entertainment sector, so I am proud that our Federal Labor Government is ensuring we preserve, protect and bolster Australian content and content creators,’’ Dr Freelander said after the new laws mandating an Australian content obligation on streaming services passed Parliament.
Under the new laws, streaming services with more than one million Australian subscribers will need to invest at least 10 percent of their total program expenditure for Australia – or 7.5 percent their revenue – on new local drama, children’s, documentary, arts and educational programs.
“Several streaming services have been producing Australian content of extraordinary quality. We want to make sure that this is guaranteed across all the streaming services,’’ he said.
This support for local stories is bolstered by a $50 million funding boost for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to support the production of new Australian children’s and drama content.
The funding will be delivered to the ABC over three years from 2026-27, enabling more locally relevant programs showcasing Australian talent and creativity to be made and enjoyed.
“Together, these measures will give vital support to our domestic screen sector and arts workers by ensuring quality local stories continue to be produced in Australia,’’ Dr Freelander said.
“The new laws deliver on the Albanese Labor Government’s commitment in the National Cultural Policy, Revive, to set local content requirements on streaming services.
“The ABC is a national treasure which we all adore and so our $50 million funding boost for the ABC will support the production of new Australian children’s and drama content,” he said.