Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the arts sector. COVID has been an incredibly challenging time for the arts sector, and this was compounded by the Morrison government abandoning the sector and excluding many workers in the arts sector from the JobKeeper wage subsidy—not to mention the systemic funding cuts to the arts delivered by coalition governments before the pandemic. So I'm very proud that the Albanese Labor government has already begun to fix this damage and that we now have in Tony Burke an arts minister who is genuinely passionate about the arts and the importance of this sector to all aspects of Australian life. Our arts minister is already consulting on our national cultural policy, which will establish a comprehensive road map to guide the skills and resources required in order to transform and safeguard a diverse, vibrant and sustainable arts, entertainment and cultural sector now and into the future. I'm very pleased that he will be holding a town hall in my electorate next Monday to consult with the Canberra arts sector, and I encourage all Canberra artists and creatives and those who are interested to please make a submission and have their say.

I've been very proud to advocate for Canberra's arts sector through what has been an incredibly challenging few years, and I hope they will have their say in shaping our national cultural policy. I also want to congratulate the ACT government for their leadership in the arts, including the recent $28 million commitment to revitalise Civic Square and the Canberra Theatre Centre.

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