Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

There was no delivery of an arts policy from the Howard government to the Australian people in the 2007 election and if you can present it to us, honourable member, then I would be happy to take it and get a look at it to glean some of your thinking. In the matter of what we are taking forward, I make the point in relation to the budget that we are delivering on our specific commitments to invest both in heritage and in culture and the arts. We have specifically delivered on our commitment to invest in young artists. There are two new programs, as the member knows, that will be delivered by the Australia Council: Support for Young and Emerging Artists and the Artists in Residence Education Initiative. We think it is particularly important to address a major gap in opportunities for young people that has been ignored for too long in the past and has prevented young artists and those with artistic ability and talent from taking those pathways and building their careers. Through Support for Young and Emerging Artists, we are acknowledging the important role that they will play.

Additionally, we have a significant commitment to Aboriginal art, through the NACIS program, and I think the member is aware of that. The budget will also put the Australian film and television industry on a stronger footing with the establishment of Screen Australia. I have to say that the government’s decision to separate out the National Film and Sound Archive and enable this new screen agency to do the job that it ought to and will do was an extremely positive public policy decision. I think it is one that has been welcomed by the industry at large. Additionally, we have also followed through on our other election commitment by beginning work on a resale royalty scheme to make sure that visual artists are entitled to a payment when their works are resold in the secondary market. In addition, the government’s commitment to the arts as enunciated in the budget was significant and it has been welcomed by the arts community, as has the approach that we have taken not only to the screen agency but to arts policy generally.

I quickly want to take this opportunity to provide some detail to a question asked by the member for Greenway about the Australian government’s actions in tackling the challenges faced by the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system. I want to put on the record that the Australian government has invited the New South Wales government to bring forward a comprehensive proposal under the Water Smart Australia program to ensure the sustainability of this important river system and, in particular, that the level of Australian government funding for this activity will be determined on the basis of the New South Wales government’s proposal. Additionally, as part of Caring for our Country, the government has committed funding of just over half a million dollars for the implementation of a river health strategy and investment in in-stream habitat.

At the conclusion of this debate about the budget appropriation can I again make the point that the Rudd Labor government came to power to take seriously the issues that had been neglected for so long by the Howard government: climate change, with the most significant investment in climate change, of some $3.3 billion; and a comprehensive and thorough suite of portfolio issues that will be driven through the Department of Climate Change by Minister Wong, through the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts by me and through the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research by Minister Carr and others. The government takes a whole-of-government approach to a whole-of-planet problem. I have to say that all we ever hear from the opposition is carping and negativity. It is running negative lines when the Australian people actually want solutions. They want to be enabled and empowered to take decisions in their own communities about addressing climate change. We have provided $1 billion of investment, including some extraordinary programs which will enable the Australian community to do that: nearly half a billion dollars for Solar Schools; a low-emissions rental plan for landlords so they can get insulation in the homes of renters; and a comprehensive approach to tackling water, with a $12.9 billion program for water for the future. These are significant commitments by the Rudd Labor government. (Time expired)

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Health and Ageing Portfolio

Proposed expenditure, $5,904,137,000

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