Business News - WA
At Close of Business podcast October 8 2024
(upbeat music) All the latest business news from WA, deliver daily. At close of business, news briefing. - Good afternoon and welcome to the Outclose of Business podcast. I'm Sam Jones and I'll be reading a Tuesday headlines. The chief operating officer at newly producing lithium play, Lion Town Resources, says the company will look to pilgrim minerals for inspiration as it navigates commodity price turmoil. Lion Town announced last week that it would cut around 10% of its workforce at the Kathleen Valley mine, which was up and running in July, amid ongoing weak prices for critical battery metal. Lithium's price plight has put a dampener on the company's delivery of Kathleen Valley, which went alone after a $6.6 billion takeover move by Chilean lithium giant, Albermaalie, fell through in October 2023. Albermaalie's plans for its Camerton lithium hydroxide plant have since been scaled back amid depressed conditions in an immature commodity pricing environment. The free on-board price of Spider-Mean, the hard rock product, which typically comprises 6% lithium, has dropped from peaks of $6,400 per tonne in December 2022 to sit below $800 US per tonne this month. Speaking at an association of mining and exploration companies event this morning, Lion Town chief operating officer Adam Smits said they would lessons to be learned for the new producer from those who had weathered the storms before. And in property now, Stockland has cleared a planning hurdle to build its Beaconsfield residential project by early next year after an assessment panel green lit the $30 million proposal. The developer proposes to build 72 townhouse apartments across 24 lots on Clontaft Road and Naylor Street grouped in three strata units. The housing mix comprises 48 three bedroom terrace homes and 24 single bedroom apartments above garages, the development application revealed. At its meeting today, the Metro Outer Development Assessment Panel approved Stockland's proposal, which was an estimated cost of $29.9 million. Stockland senior development manager, Lachlan McCaffrey, said the first stage of development was expected to start early next year. And finally, annual production at Hancock Prospectings proposed Mulga Downs iron ore mine in the Pilbara has been cut from 20 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes after the miners slashed the project footprint. Documents published by the WA Environmental Protection Authority show it had consented to multiple changes on the project. The overall development envelope has been cut by 32% to 16,848 hectares, while the disturbance footprint has been reduced by 48% to 4,339 hectares. The changes include the removal of two proposed mining pits, anticline South and horseshoe South. The project update also disclosed plans to remove the wet processing facility and tailing storage facility. This will lead to a reduction of groundwater obstruction from 36.5 gig liters per annum to 12 gig liters per annum. The EPA said the proposed changes are likely to have several positive effects, including reduced impacts to flora and vegetation and terrestrial fauna species and habitat. That's all for today's headlines. You can read more at businessnews.com.au. Coming up on the podcast, Live to Clerk and Isabel Vieira to discuss the evolution of WA's screen. (upbeat music) Celebrate business leaders, entrepreneurs and trial blazers with business news events. With our flagship event series bespoke online events, webinars, book launches and Gala Awards programs, our forums showcase the policies and issues affecting Western Australia with an industry and government. Our events are your platforms to engage and connect with the Western Australian business community. Visit businessnews.com.au/events for more information. (upbeat music) - Welcome back to the At Clothes of Business podcast. I'm Isabel Vieira and today I'm joined by Live to Clerk. Live, hey, going. - I'm well, thank you. How are you? - Good. So, Live, for the recent edition of the Business News magazine, you're reported on the screen industry in Western Australia. You know, what's going on in the sector? Tell us, why is it at an interesting point? - The growth of the sector is really what I wanted to speak about and it was what I reported on. So it's really accelerated over the past 18 months or so and these major developments are happening as a completion of the Perth Film Studios scheduled for 2026 draws closer. So according to statistics from Screenwest, the number of scripted film and television productions produced in WA each year has more than doubled during the past five years. Even just looking back at the last 12 months, there are so many major productions being filmed in this state that includes the surfer starring Nicholas Cage, which was filmed in Yelling Up. - Yes. - And that was a primarily local crew as well and that premiered actually at the festival decarn in May, which is very significant. And then there's the Stan original series population 11 starring Ben Feldman, which was shot in Derby and premiered in March. And even a survival thriller film We Bury the Dead, which was filmed in Albany and features Daisy Ridley of Star Wars sequel fame. There's also been two seasons of the 12, which is available on Binge and that yeah, was also filmed in WA and they actually started filming a third season, I believe the production started in mid September in Margaret River. - In Margaret's that's going to happen. - Yeah, so lots of regional ones. There was even a filter called Runt, which is starring Jay Courtney and Celeste Barber and that was filmed in York. And it was actually a finalist at the Sydney Fest Oz film prize for this year. So essentially production levels are at an all time high for WA and in light of this, the state government has recognized the need to support the quickly evolving and expanding the screen industry. And it's basically done this by developing and introducing a 10 year framework. It's called the WA screen industry strategy 2024 to 2034 and it would deliver a variety of initiatives to basically just maintain this current momentum and ensure the longterm sustainability of the sector and the state government announced it would invest $31.9 million over the initial four years of this. Some of those top priorities within the strategy are growing workforce capacity, developing infrastructure and also just attracting more productions to the state. For this particular article that we're talking about, I reached out to and involved Sydney Fest Oz, which is a not-for-profit organization delivering film events across WA, including its well-known week-long film festival, which happens every September. I spoke to Sydney Fest Oz chief executive Cassandra Jordan and their chair Margaret Buzzwell as well. And when I asked them for their thoughts about this 10 year screen strategy, Margaret said the government's approach has facilitated this uptick in film production and it was clear that both the state government and Screenwest as well understood that sustainability really requires investment in the foundation, which is where we're at at the moment. We don't want it to grow too quickly and not have this foundational period really packed down and well-sorted to have that sort of support, I guess. I also spoke to Screenwest CEO Ricky Lee Bastell about the strategy and she said WA has had this wonderful boom in production, which we've obviously just spoken about. And people are truly starting to feel like it's an industry where they can work and invest in and be successful. And so it's just really vital to take strategic action to ensure growth is sustained. And Ricky also said for many years, WA didn't have consistent production, so there'd only be a couple of productions a year and it wasn't keeping crew here. Or crew weren't able to make enough money to reinvest in their equipment, which hindered growth. So hopefully it will be maintained and it's not just the sunless spike. - The screen hub that they're trying to build the state government, is that a part of the 10-year plan or separate? - It's separate, but it's also now included because that started construction last year, whereas the strategy was just launched in April. - Okay. - There you go. And what a Screenwest's role in supporting the growth of the screen industry. - So Screenwest was historically funded by the Department of Local Government Sport and Cultural Industries, but it now exists separately in Access, a connector between the industry and government. When I spoke with Ricky, she said Screenwest has been contracted by the state government to deliver certain elements of that 10-year strategy. So some of those elements will be for the full 10 years and others are immediate. One of those immediate ones is around workforce capacity, so that involves making sure that the workforce was there and correctly trained and supported and ready for when the film studios opened in particular, but also just generally with this growth in the industry, just making sure that people are qualified across post-production and documentary and various other parts of the screen industry. So Screenwest is working really closely with DLGSC and the Department of Training and Workforce Development to come up with a plan on workforce capacity and also just further development. Ricky told me that it was a core element to that long-term plan of making sure the right people are coming out of the right institutes and those training schemes are correct to truly and fully support the industry. - There you go. And as well as the 10-year strategy, the state government also offers incentives to attract productions here in WA. You know, what are some of those incentives? - So those include the Production Attraction Incentive, the Regional Screen Fund and the Post Production Digital and Visual Effects Incentive, or PDV Incentive very long, but all of those are administered by Screenwest. - Okay, yeah, so that first one, the WA Production Incentive is literally what it is, attracting bigger productions from interstate or overseas, to WA, diversifying the economy and creating jobs as well. When I spoke with Ricky, she said it attracts projects to the state that otherwise wouldn't come here and it ultimately offers a percentage based on what the screen company is going to spend here. What that Incentive also does is flow on to ensure there is infrastructure for locally driven productions and crew members as well. The Regional Screen Fund involves an offer where a production can apply for a $1 return for every $2 they spend on a project in Regional WA. So getting 50% of their money back, which is quite significant. And finally, the PDV Incentive ensures that not only production happens in WA, but also that post-production part as well. Ricky said this was included in the long-term strategy and Screenwest would really love to see stories developed in WA and writers writing them here and directors coming from WA as well. And while that won't happen overnight, these Incentives will help to develop that a little more. Interesting. And you know, with rapid growth can come growing pain sometimes. Has this caused, or are there any concerns or challenges floating around that they think could come to fruition? - I did ask both Screenwest and Sennifest as this question. And both of them said that there weren't really any issues at the moment and the only problem, so to speak, was making sure that all the areas were really prepared for this increased level of production. Ricky said that the growth was obviously positive development, but it was really important to ensure the local sector wouldn't be harmed in the process. And just being aware of the importance of getting the growth rate at the most ideal pace to bring the whole sector along with it. And she spoke to those growing pains that you just mentioned saying that Screenwest doesn't want to be, it to be too tough on anyone in terms of locals burning out with too much work or being pushed out by big entities coming here and wiping out the local landscape. There are a few areas, those are a bit dramatic, those examples, but there are obviously some concerns. But none of those things are happening at the moment. It's just one of those things that the state government and Screenwest were monitoring, just keeping their eye on just in case. - Fair enough, when you were writing the article, did you get to feel that we have enough people to support this industry that's growing, in terms of students or just people in general? - It's a great question, there are obviously a lot of people going into the screen industry, but many of them do move away from WA, whether that be over East of Sydney or Melbourne or even Brisbane, often it is overseas, particularly to the United States, of course. So there is a little bit of a push towards retaining people after they graduate or get the certificate or whatever area it might be within the screen industry, keeping those people here in WA and even bringing back people who have left kind of trying to entice them to come back with this growing industry. And I think it really will be a really successful area, I think, if we are able to manage that and sustain the sector. - Yeah, absolutely, if we've got the work here, surely they'll stick around. - Exactly. - And what is the importance of screen culture, such as events and festivals, in supporting the growth of the screen industry? - Screen culture is so vital in guiding that growth, and Sydney Fest Ozz is actually a great example of an organisation doing this. They deliver a film festival every year in the Southwest region, and that creates a plethora of opportunities for experienced professionals and emerging talents who just come together and enjoy and discuss film. In September, it was actually the 17th Sydney Fest Ozz Film Festival, and when I spoke with the Chief Executive Cassandra about this, she said it strengthened the local screen industry by promoting films and the people behind them. And Sydney Fest Ozz is a gateway to be able to show community and local audiences what's being made here. Otherwise, those productions can often get lost in the oversaturated international market, and it creates opportunities for those Australian films and TV series to break through. And yeah, that's pretty much the power of a festival. And another thing Cassandra mentioned was the value in showcasing Australian stories, particularly in reference to representation on the big screen. So that means shedding light on multi-generational and multicultural stories that have originated and have been made in Australia. And that's really critical in showing young people the kind of career path they can pursue because they can actually see themselves reflected on screens in the actors. But then there are also a variety of other opportunities and jobs associated with the screen industry for people of any age, not just youth. I asked Screenwest's Ricky about Screen Culture 2, and she also said it just provides so many opportunities to explore future potential for both children and adults. She said Sydney Fest Ozz in particular created networking opportunities to strike up partnerships for newer projects and inspire attendees. And there were several times filmmakers were introduced to investors or marketplace from just attending the festival. - Yeah. - So there've been lots of projects ignited through that gathering of screen industry players. And yeah, there's just so many opportunities with culture just to bolster the industry a little bit more and have people connect and collaborate. - Amazing. Well listeners, I would really encourage you to check out the full article. It's really great comprehensive wrap of what's going on in WA screen industry. You can check it out online today at businessnews.com.au or in the latest edition of the Business News magazine. Leave thanks for joining us. - Thank you. - The latest business news delivered daily. Subscribe and rate the show. Where have you listened to your podcasts? For all the latest business news, visit businessnews.com.au. (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]