THE cash-strapped Newman Government gave $200,000 to the production company behind Big Brother to ensure the TV reality show returned to the Gold Coast, three months after scrapping the Queensland Literary Awards.

The money, allocated through the government's film development arm Screen Queensland, could have spared the Literary Awards, which were scrapped to save $244,000, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

The awards were run this year under a volunteer model minus the previous cash prizes for winning writers, but their future is considered in doubt.

Premier Campbell Newman referred questions on the issue to Arts Minister Ros Bates.

Approval for the Big Brother grant was given in December under the previous Bligh Government but the contract was not signed until July this year under the Newman Government.

Ms Bates said the decision was too far progressed for her to review or stop by the time she took control of the portfolio.

"(Screen Queensland) would have been in a contractual arrangement by then," she said.

Ms Bates said the Screen Queensland board had been replaced and had only had its first meeting last week.

Ms Bates visited the Dreamworld set of Big Brother this week to talk up the government's investment.

She said it was returning major benefits including 300 jobs and attracting thousands of visitors to the Gold Coast.

"This is a huge production and post-production employer," Ms Bates said.

"It's vitally important because it allows us to keep building a successful and vibrant film and television industry in Queensland."

She said 40,000 people were expected to visit the production set or attend live programs at Dreamworld during filming.

A further 250,000 people would tour the Big Brother house after filming had finished and the set was opened to the public.

"It's a major tourism boost that, along with other initiatives in place, will assist the Newman Government as it looks to double overnight visitor expenditure in Queensland by 2020," she said.

The Beattie Labor Government also provided support for the previous Big Brother series when it first started in 2001 which included wage rebates, tax rebates and government-sponsored interns.

The revamped version of Big Brother has proved popular since its return, averaging more than one million viewers a night.

Originally published as Literary set's loss was Big Brother's gain