Tax pitch to Hollywood

PRESSURE is mounting on the Federal Government to nearly double tax incentives to lure major Hollywood productions to the Gold Coast.

Mayor Tom Tate backed Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s call to boost support for the industry when the incentive levels are reviewed in October.

Cr Tate has written to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney – the bosses of the Star Wars franchise – to try to lure big productions to the Coast as the film industry looks to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

“It is about broadening our economy and, to show there is political will, I would welcome the Federal Government to look at the location and film incentive that will be reviewed in October,” he said on Tuesday. “It sits at 16 per cent, but to keep us competitive, especially against Canada, we need this to be lifted to 30 per cent.

“If we can do that, more feature films will come here, and I would say to the Premier we need to look at building a new sound stage.”

Cr Tate also said a new sound stage would be included in Queensland’s bid for the 2032 Olympic Games.

In February, Ms Palaszczuk called for the tax incentive to be lifted in a bid to attract a major Hollywood production.

“This is about jobs, hundreds of jobs, and millions of dollars’ worth of investment,” she said at the time.

“In a time of international uncertainty over the coronavirus, it is more important than ever to reassure the international screen industry that we are open for business.”