The Australian Greens political party has launched the #SaveKidsTV initiative\u00a0to\u00a0defend children’s storytelling\u00a0in the country, with Screen Producers Australia among those pledging support to the cause.<\/p>\n
#SaveKidsTV aims to protect the children\u2019s television industry in Australia by highlighting the challenges that the sector faces from such streaming services as Netflix and Stan, while also\u00a0pushing for\u00a0the government to strengthen the requirements of broadcasters to produce and air high-quality, locally made kids’ programming in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian children\u2019s television is in a fight for its life,\u201d said\u00a0Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the Greens\u2019 arts and youth spokesperson.<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren\u2019s television has played a crucial role in our country and the development of young Australians for generations, but the media landscape is undoubtedly shifting.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew players like Netflix and Stan have changed the way that all of us, including young people, consume media and they can’t be allowed to leave children\u2019s TV behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an ever-connected and global world, our children need safe places where they can see their own world reflected back to help them make sense of it. Every culture needs to tell their own stories, for learning and reflection; quality children\u2019s TV is one way of helping our kids to make sense of what it means to be Australian and how we connect with each other and those beyond our borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing to see the major television channels trying to get out of their obligations to make high-quality children\u2019s programs simply because they can\u2019t compete for ratings with the likes of MasterChef<\/em> and Married at First Sight<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Greens will be moving in the Senate to support children\u2019s television in Australia and strengthen the requirements for our broadcasters.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom Bananas in Pyjamas<\/em> to the legendary Round the Twist<\/em>, high-quality Australian-made children\u2019s television has always played an important role in shaping young hearts and minds in this country.<\/p>\n \u201cParents know Australian children\u2019s programming is too important to lose, and that\u2019s why we will fight to #SaveKidsTV.\u201d<\/p>\n Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner expressed his\u00a0support for the #SaveKidsTV campaign in a statement on the organization’s website:<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia produces world-class children\u2019s content that is loved by Australian children and their parents. We make great stories like Lockie Leonard<\/em>, Mako Mermaids<\/em>, Beat Bugs<\/em> and Dance Academy<\/em>, in part, because of a set [of] obligations on commercial television broadcasters and well-funded public broadcasters. Removing these obligations on commercial broadcasters, together with any withdrawal of support from the public broadcasters, will mean Australian children\u2019s content just won\u2019t get made. Australian children deserve access to high-quality Australian stories that are targeted to their different stages of development.<\/p>\n \u201cThe answer isn\u2019t devolution, it\u2019s evolution. We can\u2019t leave the responsibilities to children\u2019s programming to the public broadcasters. It takes a village to raise a child. We need to evolve the regulatory environment to reflect the current market and include obligations on SVOD services like Netflix and Amazon.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.K. reduced children\u2019s obligations on commercial broadcasters in 2003. That led to a 93 percent decline in the industry. This month, the U.K. government admitted it made a mistake and is re-introducing their obligations. The Australian government doesn\u2019t have the same luxury to make a mistake now and fix it later because if the content quotas are removed, they can\u2019t be brought back because of our free trade agreement with the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want Australian stories on Australian screens. We want Australian children dreaming Australian dreams. We can\u2019t sleepwalk into a nightmare situation where no Australian children\u2019s content gets produced and our children don\u2019t see themselves reflected [on] our screens.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great Senator Hanson-Young and the Australian Greens are committed to strengthening children\u2019s content in the Senate\u2014I call on the government to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Australian Greens political party has launched the #SaveKidsTV initiative to defend children’s storytelling in the country, with Screen Producers Australia among those pledging support to the cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":479,"featured_media":12189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[2557,2558,2559,2560,2561],"class_list":["post-12188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-savekidstv","tag-australian-greens","tag-matthew-deaner","tag-sarah-hanson-young","tag-screen-producers-australia","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n