Minister for Innovation and ICT, Dave Kelly MLA, announced the $16.7 million New Industries Fund on Tuesday.
Prior to the election, Labor promised that the WA video game industry would be a key beneficiary of the fund, yet Tuesday’s announcement made no mention of the industry.
Tim Clifford MLC, Greens (WA) Spokesperson for Innovation, criticised the announcement for ignoring the games industry and failing to meet expectations created by pre-election commitments.
“I’m pleased to see the Government supporting the innovation sector, however I am disappointed that the Government has back-flipped on its pre-election commitment to guarantee specific funding for the games industry”, said Mr Clifford.
In response to a question in Parliament yesterday, Minister Kelly said that games developers are entitled to apply for funding through the New Industries Fund. Mr Clifford said, “This is not good enough. The government made specific promises to the industry prior to the election that haven’t been fulfilled.
“By removing any specific allocation of funding for the games industry, the Minister has turned his back on the industry and absolved himself of any responsibility to make sure that the unique needs of this industry are met.
“The Australian games industry is worth over $1 billion, yet WA is missing out. The potential for local jobs creation and economic growth in WA is significant and the lack of certainty created by the Minster’s announcement is extremely concerning.
“WA is already losing talent to states like Victoria and New South Wales where Government has introduced initiatives to support the industry. The South Australian government has just announcement a $2 million funding package, so it is likely that the brain drain will continue.
“If Minister Kelly cared about creating jobs in WA, he would do well to listen to the WA games industry rather than insult them with broken election promises.”