State Government charges ahead with plans to grow WA screen industry despite Trump’s tariff threats

Despite threats from US President Donald Trump to impose 100 per cent tariffs on all foreign-made films, which cast doubt on WA’s investment in the film sector, the State Government is charging ahead with its plans to grow WA’s screen industry and workforce.

During Budget estimates on Thursday, the State Government outlined its plans to grow WA’s screen industry workforce, a move it admits the US President wouldn’t be pleased with.

It has allocated $5 million in the 2025–26 Budget for a capacity-building program intended to “fast-track growth in key sectors of the local screen industry” by helping businesses scale-up through improved infrastructure and services.

Last month’s Budget also increased the rebate on WA post-production, digital and visual effects expenditure to a flat 20 per cent for projects with budgets of more than $100,000. Previously, the incentive was a 20 per cent rebate on qualifying post-production expenditure for the first $500,000, and 10 per cent thereafter.

The rebate is aimed at bringing more film productions to WA as part of the $20 million WA Production Attraction Incentive Fund, which was first announced in 2021.

“This is the package that I joke, perhaps people don’t want to talk too much to President Trump about, because they’re quite generous,” Minister for Creative Industries Simone McGurk said on Thursday.

Although posts in early May warned of the film tariffs, and President Trump said he authorised the US Commerce Department to act because America’s film industry was dying a “very fast death”, no official action has occurred so far.

“Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post.

“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat . . . it is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda.”

“WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

The tariffs would be a major plot twist for the State Government, given a $290m film studio is currently under construction in Malaga and due to open next year.

Despite the funding commitments, the State Government won’t mandate local content requirements. Rather, it will focus on creating opportunities for WA workers and businesses through incentives.

“While there won’t be a mandated component for local content, actually making sure that there are opportunities for West Australians and West Australian companies is very much at the core of the screen industry strategy,” Ms McGurk said.

Ms McGurk said the Government was committed to supporting and creating a wide range of job opportunities across the film industry.

“We will be committing to a published plan coming out before the end of the calendar year, in relation to all of the different people working directly in the production of film, but also . . . film-adjacent occupations,” she said.

“(That) could be anything from writing, script development, production, it could be in set design, it could be in set construction, it could be in make-up, it could be in costumes.”