Sydney- Parliament last week passed legislation establishing a range of previously announced screen production incentives in what was almost certainly the last week of parliament before the federal election. There was one major amendment, extending the rebate for animation series to episodes of 15 minutes, rather than 30 as proposed originally. The government rejected calls from the Screen Producers Association of Australia to prevent Australian broadcasters from accessing the rebate for series which are produced in-house. However it agreed to launch a statutory review of the new offsets on the balance between in-house and independent productions within 12 months, and Arts Minister Senator George Brandis reiterated the Government’s view that it “will not look favorably on any evidence that broadcasters are using the offset to reduce their license fees, to the detriment of the independent sector.” Brandis added he will direct the new film agency, Screen Australia, which is to be formed in mid-2008, not to provide funding to in-house productions by broadcasters, consistent with the long-term practice of the Film Finance Corporation Australia.