Comments from producer group follow state’s decision to cut funding scheme from A$42m ($22.5m) in 2025/26 to A$50m over two years
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has warned that a cut to production incentives in Queensland will hit small businesses and economic activity.
The Australian state has become a frequent destination for both domestic and international productions over recent years, with local government providing considerable support via incentives in addition to national rebates.
Queensland’s incentive funding budget stood at A$42m (£22.5m) in 2025/26, up from A$38m in both 2024/25 and 2023/24, but the state’s arts minister John-Paul Langbroek revealed last week that only A$50m had been budgeted across the next two years.
The state’s own figures for 2025/26 showed that ”direct Queensland production expenditure” generated by Screen Queensland during the 2025–26 financial year generated almost A$550m, supporting almost 120 film, TV and digital game projects.
Matt Deaner, SPA chief exec, told the ABC that the “relatively modest saving” from cutting the incentive would result losses of “many times that amount in small-business and economic activity”.
He continued: “The Queensland government is significantly reducing the incentives that support the attraction of screen production, business and economic activity in the state. Producers have chosen to locate their businesses in Queensland based on the stability and level of state investment.
“Our members indicate that New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, as well as international production hubs, are now being considered for their business and production locations.”
Governments around the world have used tax rebates and funding incentives for years as a key tool to bring in international productions, with related revenues contributing far beyond the initial outlay.
However, Queensland is not alone in reviewing its incentive schemes.
Canada is also reviewing its production tax credit system with a “fresh pair of eyes”, according to culture minister Marc Miller, who told the Banff World Media Festival in June that the financing of shows for TV and streaming “escapes most people in government and also most importantly… taxpayers”.
The minister said that the complexity of the tax credit system “and how it gets leveraged by some players over others” can stifle productions and “even increase” costs.
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