Shadow tourism minister Scott Leary slams Labor over outsourced work for Walking On A Dream tourism campaign

Shadow tourism minister and Albany MLA Scott Leary slammed WA Labor this week for allowing the outsourcing of major production work on the Walking On A Dream tourism campaign to the Eastern States. Mr Leary said that while the State Government had awarded the contract for the campaign to Perth-based The Brand Agency, the company had been outsourcing production work to firms from New South Wales and Victoria, rather than using WA-based production companies. He accused WA Labor of failing to protect and promote WA jobs for the high-profile campaign, calling the failure to require major contracts to utilise local industries was more than just a missed opportunity. “This isn’t just a missed opportunity, it’s a total contradiction of everything the Government claims to stand for,” he said. “They say WA is the most competitive place in the country for post-production work, but then sit back while one of our biggest promotional tools is sent east.” “It’s one thing to hand a contract to a WA-based agency, but it’s another thing entirely to let that agency send the work east while local talent, local studios, and local workers are left on the sidelines.” Mr Leary said the main problem lies in the Government’s failure to include strong local content or local industry participation requirements in major contracts, like the one they made with The Brand Agency. “There should have been clear clauses in this contract to ensure production work was carried out by WA companies, particularly when the Government keeps talking about ‘Made in WA’,” Mr Leary said. “That they’re good enough to be the backdrop, but not good enough to get the work.” WA Premier Roger Cook labelled the decision “pretty disappointing” when asked about it last week. The member for Albany called on the State Government to immediately review the contract, provide transparency around the decision-making process and guarantee stronger local content obligations for future campaigns. A State Government spokesperson said the upcoming campaign utilises at least 70 per cent WA crew, as well as local props, wardrobe, equipment, catering, vehicle rentals, transport and tourism operators. “The WA Government, through Tourism WA, prioritises local ownership, crew, location and WA-based creative input and has guidelines in place to ensure WA businesses are being used on our marketing campaigns,” they said. “The unique needs of the creative concept meant The Brand Agency evaluated more than 50 WA and Australian production agencies who could assist on bringing this world-class campaign to life, carrying out an assessment on each agency’s understanding of the brief, creative vision, VFX experience, previous filming experience and technical ability. “To ensure Walking On A Dream, as our global destination brand, cuts through in a hyper-competitive global marketplace, it is vital the competitive procurement process identifies the strongest supplier able to deliver the unique creative concept to the exceptional standard required.”