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ABC News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Queensland Literary Awards program under review after fellowship revoked from First Nations writer
The Queensland State Library says it remains committed to freedom of expression despite a decision to rescind a $15,000 fellowship awarded to Indigenous writer K A Ren Wyld over comments about the conflict in Gaza made on social media last year. The decision was made by the state's arts minister John-Paul Langbroek, who wrote to the library's board on Monday May 19. The library said it was legally bound to follow the minister's order. "To comply with the direction, the fellowship was not awarded to K A Ren Wyld," the library said in a statement. "State Library values freedom of expression within the limits of the law." Quoting its Intellectual Freedom Policy the library's statement said: "Libraries [sic] support the free flow of information and ideas, [and] have a responsibility to oppose the infringement of intellectual freedom." Speaking to state parliament last Tuesday, Mr Langbroek said concerns had been raised about a social media post by Ms Wyld following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in October last year, which was deleted shortly after it was posted. "The author, via comments on social media, has praised the mastermind of the 7 October Hamas-led terror attacks as a 'martyr' and a 'hero'," Mr Langbroek said. "Words matter, and that is why we have taken the decision that this award should not be presented at the State Library." Multiple panel judges for the Queensland Literary Awards resigned following the decision. In a statement on social media, Ms Wyld said they flew to Brisbane to attend the announcement, which was scheduled for last Tuesday. On arrival, they said they were given the news by State Library CEO Vicki McDonald that the fellowship had been rescinded . "Clarifying what's happened is not Vicki's fault, or the Black&Write team and partner organisations," they wrote. "She was not able to give me much information. "I will not receive the $15,000 award money, and my manuscript will not be edited as part of the Black&Write program." Ms Wyld said they had been contacted prior to the Tuesday meeting by a News Corp journalist who informed them Queensland arts minister John-Paul Langbroek had written to the library directing them to void the fellowship. The State Library confirmed there will be an independent review of its awards and fellowships programs. "It will have specific focus on how we balance our strong commitment to freedom of expression and our role as a Queensland government funded cultural institution," a statement said. Academic and fiction prize judge Dr Jeanine Leane and writer and critic Nigel Featherstone made up half the four-person fiction prize panel — which wasn't judging Ms Wyld's manuscript — before they both resigned on Friday. Dr Leane said she resigned from judging the awards due to what she called an "intervention" into the arts scene. "This kind of interference into the art scene becoming a frequent occurrence in Australia, where projects and artists and writers are being shut down because of their political views and the opinions that they express," she said. She said such interventions shift the focus away from the work to serve political narratives. "That makes it not about art or writing, or creativity, or diversity, or the possibility of considering the multiplicities of truths and stories that may exist out there. "Shutting down a truth of someone expressing their concern for a genocide in Palestine, and shutting down the truth of the cultural genocide here that happened through the Stolen Generations — which is what [Ms Wyld's] manuscript was about." Mr Featherstone said it was not solely about Gaza but the "core principle" of freedom of speech in the arts. "For me, it actually doesn't matter what those political views are, whether they're highly conservative or highly progressive, I think they should be able to express those views and not lose work opportunities or awards, grants, or fellowships," he said. Author of Muddy People and non-fiction panellist Sara el Sayed said she found it "impossible" to continue to work with the library following the decision. "It's completely against what the values of the State Library and these awards should stand for, and honestly I think it completely undermines the whole process and this whole project that we're involved in," she said. "What is the point in judging a literary award if a politician can swoop in at the last second and, for whatever reason he decides, say 'this person cannot receive this award because I say so'?" Ms el Sayed said a review of the library's suite of awards wasn't necessary. "What I'm concerned about is, what's it going to find out, what's it going to uncover? Is it going to introduce more power for these ministers?
The Australian
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Screen industry and politicians in uproar over Donald Trump movie tariff threat
The Gold Coast has spent decades trying to attract filmmakers to the famed glitter strip, and local mayor Tom Tate fears US President Donald Trump's potential tariffs will be a 'kick in the guts' for the industry. 'Investment in the Gold Coast film industry … it's a 30-year vision,' Mr Tate said. 'I really cherish our film industry.' Mr Trump put the global film industry on alert on Monday after posting on social media that he intended to implement a sweeping 100 per cent tariff on all movies 'produced in foreign lands'. 'The movie industry in America is dying a very fast death,' the President wrote. But by Tuesday, the Trump administration appeared to walk back the comments, with White House spokesman Kush Desai telling reporters 'no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made' and further consultation with the industry would take place. Queensland's local film industry generated a $525m economic return last financial year and created 4000 direct jobs across the state, in production studios from the Gold Coast to Cairns. During that period, cameras have rolled on a dozen movies, including The Bluff, starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Karl Urban, while parts of a total of 45 different projects have been produced in Queensland. State Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek has put pressure on the re-elected Albanese government to get answers and protect the economic investment. 'Filmmakers are coming here because of the incentives. Now we have someone saying, well, those incentives have meant that they're going to bring in tariffs,' Mr Langbroek said. Filming is under way in Brisbane on the Owen Wilson-led film Runner, alongside the next instalment in the Godzilla and King Kong 'Monsterverse' franchise. Together, they are expected to create a $111m economic boost. At a national level, screen production in Australia generated $1.7bn in expenditure across 169 Australian and international film and television titles in the 2023-24 financial year, according to Screen Queensland. Of that, $768m was linked to 70 international projects. This figure was down on previous years due to the 2023 Hollywood writers' strike. The Cook government in Western Australia is spending $290m on a film studio in Malaga that is due to be ready by April next year. WA Premier Roger Cook on Monday said Mr Trump's tariffs were a clear disincentive for US producers and added to the deteriorating global economic environment. He said he was hopeful that demand from Australian filmmakers and US studios keen to capitalise on WA's natural wonders would help insulate the new film studio from the tariffs. 'We obviously have a lot of domestic content that we can develop in WA and there are other film-producing countries right around the world, but we continue to believe that there will still be opportunities for us to attract US production houses,' he said. 'Don't forget that at the end of the day, they need quality environments and opportunities to shoot in unique settings, and that's also what WA offers.' California Governor Gavin Newsom is reportedly attempting to smooth tensions between the Trump administration and the film industry by proposing a $US7.5bn ($11.62bn) federal tax incentive to bring production back to the US. Many US states offer individual tax offers. Mr Newsom said a federal partnership would strengthen domestic production and 'Make America Film Again'. Additional reporting: Paul Garvey Read related topics: Donald Trump Mackenzie Scott is a property and general news reporter based in Brisbane. Prior to joining The Australian in 2018, she was the editorial coordinator at NewsMediaWorks, covering media and publishing, and editor at travel and lifestyle website Xplore Sydney. Nation NSW's top cop is set to step down in September following weeks of rumours, and a three-year tenure plagued by public and internal criticisms. Nation In emotional testimony, two children of Don and Gail Patterson have described the events leading up to a fatal lunch at which their parents were poisoned to death by a beef Wellington.
