Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The Powerhouse Youth Theatre, in my electorate, is the only youth focused theatre company in Western Sydney, based at the School of Arts in Fairfield. Shamefully, this company faces the prospect of closure because of Minister Brandis's cuts to funding for small and medium arts programs. For almost 30 years, the Powerhouse Youth Theatre has fostered cultural diversity in its performances and positively transformed the lives of the young people it works with. The slashing of funding and the threatening of this organisation is nothing short of a disgrace. Arts funding is not the personal plaything of Minister Brandis. It is there to encourage and support arts right across the country.

The government might think the people of Western Sydney are second-class citizens who do not deserve arts programs. They are wrong. For the information of the government: by 2020 there will be one million young people living in Western Sydney, and, yes, they do care about the arts, despite the prejudice of the government. Two hundred young people per week make use of the theatre space in Fairfield for training in the performance arts. They do an amazing job with the few resources they have, with only three part-time staff producing an annual program of 11 major projects in 2015 and thousands of people participating as audience members. The cultural life of Western Sydney is rich and vibrant, but it needs support. It does not need a lecture from this arrogant, out-of-touch, elitist and incompetent Minister for the Arts. It actually needs support for hardworking young people.

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