A little over two
weeks ago, in yet another attempt to have the ban on me by Screen Australia
lifted or, alternatively, to be provided with evidence in support of its
necessity, I wrote the following to Senator George Brandis. I have received no
response:
The Hon George Brandis MP
Minister for the Arts
Commonwealth Parliament Offices
Level 361 Eagle St
Brisbane QLD 4000
31st March 2015
Dear
Senator Brandis
On
29th April, 2014, I wrote to you as follows:
Dear
Senator Brandis
Following
on from my letter of 6th Jan. Some questions:
- How
much script development money did Martha Coleman earmark for Goalpost Pictures
when working at Screen Australia before joining the company in Jan this year?
- How
much development and production money has Screen Australia provided to Goalpost
Pictures since Rosemary Blight became a member of the board?
- At the
March 2014 board meeting, was Goalpost’s HOLDING THE MAN really one of the two
only film projects deserving of Screen Australia production funding?
- Is
there any limit to the amount of funding that the Screen Australia board can
vote to provide to board members film and TV projects?
- Has
the board ever knocked back a project presented to it by a board member?
Is it
possible to even ask such questions without being accused of intimidating or
placing at risk members of the Screen Australia board; of being banned for
having the temerity to ask such questions?
The answer is no. Ten days after
I wrote this letter to you the Screen Australia board banned for a further two
years.
In reality, the Board has banned
me for life as I have no intention of ceasing to ask questions such those above
or of advocating on behalf of my right to be provided with evidence of the
crimes that led to my being banned.
On many occasions now I have
requested of the Commonwealth Ombudsman that his office request, from Screen
Australia, evidence of my ‘crimes’. The Ombudsman refuses to do – proving a
variety of “Yes Prime Minister”- type reasons for not doing so. The expression
“Useless as tits on a bull” springs to mind!
Leaving aside the ban on myself,
there is the question of whether or not it is appropriate for members of the
Screen Australia Board to continually vote large sums of money to themselves
and their associates. This is the elephant in the room that filmmakers dare not
speak of in public for fear of being banned as I have been – whether such a ban
be official (as is the case with myself) or unofficial, as is the case with
other filmmakers I know who have been critical of Screen Australia and/or are
not professional associates or friends of key SA decision makers.
You have presented yourself to
the public as a champion of free speech but clearly such free speech does not extend
to critics of Screen Australia.
From the ICAC website:
“The
ICAC receives and analyses complaints from members of the public and public
officials, and reports made by the principal officers of public sector
organisations.
The
ICAC has extensive powers of investigation and may conduct public inquiries to
obtain evidence of corruption.
The
ICAC also conducts research to identify specific areas of corruption risk.
The
ICAC works to minimise corruption by providing advice, information, resources
and training to public sector organisations to remedy existing or potential
corruption problems, and helps organisations to identify and deal with
significant corruption risks.”
I believe, along with many others in the
film and TV community, that the risk of corruption is great in an organization
in which filmmaker board members are able to vote to give substantial amounts
of money to each other whilst at the same time banning fellow filmmakers who raise
questions, in public, about the propriety of such rent seeking.
Before
making a formal complaint to ICAC I will, one last time, request that you do
all in your power to resolve the dispute between myself and Screen Australia
and conduct some form of public enquiry into Screen Australia board members propensity
to reward themselves so handsomely.
Eternal
optimist that I am, I also request that you instruct Screen Australia to
provide me with evidence that I have ever, even once, either intimidated or
placed at risk members of Screen Australia’s staff.
My
latest letter to the Screen Australia board, written 20 days ago, has yielded
no response at all. If nothing else, Screen Australia’s lack of transparency
and accountability should be of concern. This letter can be found at:
I have also attached a subsequent letter
sent to Claudia Karvan on 24th
March 2015. It speaks for itself.
best wishes
James Ricketson
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