Unclaimed gambling prizes used to fund Jackie Chan film
SYDNEY: Some A$ 850,000 (about RM3.54 million) in unclaimed gambling prizes were used to fund the Jackie Chan movie Bleeding Steel.
This has just been disclosed by the New South Wales Government.
Unclaimed winnings were also used on a greyhound race, new school facilities and upgrades to to war memorials across the Australian state.
The 2017 sci-fi thriller Bleeding Steel, which featured Jackie duelling with a villain atop the sails of the Sydney Opera House, was funded in part by a one- off direct state grant of A$ 850,000.
Defending this bizarre move, a spokesman for Liquor and Gaming NSW said the government “undertook a thorough cost benefit analysis” and decided the film would deliver “significant short and long-term economic and tourism benefits, particularly from Asia”.
“The project directly injected over A$ 20 million into the NSW economy and employed over 1100 staff, crew, cast and extras in NSW between May and September 2016,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Greens member of the legislative council Justin Field described the grant as
The project (Bleeding Steel) directly injected over A$20 million into the NSW economy and employed over 1100 staff, crew, cast and extras in NSW between May and September 2016. Spokesman for Liquor and Gaming NSW
a “highly unusual use of the Community Development Fund” and questioned why the request for production finance was not considered through a formal application to Create NSW, the state government’s arts funding body.
“This fund is derived from unclaimed gambling winnings. It should be used for genuine community building projects or used to support victims of gambling harm,” Field said.
Under the Department of Industry’s policies, in charge of Liquor and Gaming NSW, unclaimed winnings must be paid to Secretary of the Department of Industry, which is then transferred to the Community Development fund.