'Aussiewood' courts Hollywood as Trump's film tariffs loom

Australia still wants to make “great films” with the US, the country’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday, as new tariffs threaten the home of Hollywood hits like The Matrix, Elvis, and Crocodile Dundee.

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US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced 100 per cent tariffs for all films produced in “foreign lands”, saying struggling Tinsel Town would be better served by “movies made in America”.

So-called “Aussiewood” has for years used generous tax breaks and other cash incentives to lure foreign filmmakers Down Under, producing a string of hits for major Hollywood studios.

Although little is known about how the tariffs might work, Australia’s top diplomat Wong said they risk ultimately proving a flop with filmgoers. “Our message is we make great films together,” she told national broadcaster ABC.

“We have films, American films, which are filmed here in Australia,” she said. “The collaboration is a good thing. So, let’s not get in the way of that.”

Crocodile Dundee, a 1986 comedy about an Australian bushman transplanted to New York City, helped put Australia’s fledgling film industry on the map in America.

Since then, some of Hollywood’s hottest directors have used Australia to film Marvel blockbusters, Mission Impossible instalments, and box-office winners like Elvis.