David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that, the:

(a) Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) fund was an effective and targeted arts funding initiative supporting 541 projects in over 4,000 locations, creating over 195,000 job opportunities and experiences reaching more than 55 million Australians;

(b) Arts Sustainability Fund was key to supporting systemically significant arts companies to survive through the COVID-19 pandemic with recipients including, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Theatre Company, Brandenburg Ensemble, Queensland Ballet, Opera Australia, Design Tasmania, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Melbourne Theatre Company, The Australian Ballet, Belvoir Theatre, Circa Contemporary Circus Limited, and Malthouse Theatre; and

(c) highest level of Commonwealth arts funding ever achieved was under the previous Government in 2021-2022 when the funding exceeded $1 billion; and

(2) expresses its regret at the adverse effect on the arts sector of politically motivated arts policy decisions since May 2022 including, the:

(a) grave mishandling of the additional $20 million of funding for RISE which was provided in the March 2022 budget, with the Government delaying action for many months before cancelling this funding in October;

(b) announcement in September that the Government would establish a Live Performance Support Fund with no guidelines, eligibility conditions or other details provided at that time and still not provided two months later; and

(c) abrupt and discourteous disbanding of the Creative Economy Taskforce which comprised a distinguished group of arts leaders doing outstanding work in advising on the Government arts policy.

This is an important motion, because it appears that the current government has forgotten the amazing support that the coalition delivered when we were last in government to support the creative economy during the COVID pandemic. As you know, the creative economy needs venues, needs people and needs crowds, and it was not forgotten during the COVID lockdown period.

The Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand, RISE, fund was a considerable fund—$200 million in total. There were seven rounds of funding to a wide variety of creative projects across the country. Some examples that I've looked up include the Sound Station Music & Arts Festival in Newcastle; the development and tour of a new physical theatre production, Air Time; and various tours, like the Empire Touring theatre series, the Hidethe Dog tour, and the production, regional tour and mentorship program done by Riverside's National Theatre of Parramatta. Across the country, these are some of the things that we funded to keep people enjoying the arts and to make all these creative industries, which employ hundreds of thousands of people, viable during the COVID lockdowns and periods when crowds were not possible.

We also announced the Arts Sustainability Fund, which systemically supported many large arts companies to survive, because, while they do get government funding, they rely on income from exhibitions and from visitors to their performances. Some of these peak entities were nationally renowned and internationally known. We were faced with the prospect that all the skills that had been collected would have fizzled away and vanished. That's people like the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Brandenburg ensemble, the Queensland Ballet, Opera Australia, Design Tasmania and the National Institute of Dramatic Art, NIDA, where my brother spent time as a young teenager—it's internationally renowned; all the Australian actors and actresses who have reached international heights seem to have gone through NIDA or similar dramatic arts institutes. It's people like the Melbourne Theatre Company, the internationally renowned Australian Ballet—imagine if that had folded because they couldn't perform and earn income and keep the troupes together—Circa Contemporary Circus Ltd and the Malthouse Theatre. In total, all the other things amounted to $1 billion, which is an amazing portfolio assembled for the Commonwealth government to support the creative arts and art funding.

In the budget in March 2022, an extra $20 million was allocated to the RISE Fund. It was deployed in the March 2022 budget, but it appears to have gone missing in action. There was a faux reannouncement as though it was new money. The same $20 million appeared in an announcement by the current government for a Live Performance Support Fund, but nothing has ever come out of it. Talk about moving the chestnuts around the table and trying to confuse people!

The motion refers to the 'abrupt and discourteous disbanding of the Creative Economy Taskforce which comprised a distinguished group' of eminent arts leaders who'd been doing outstanding work. To summarily disband it is counterproductive. I know every government wants to make its mark, but, when there are good things that have been established and are delivering long-term benefit, a wise government looks at what's there and makes a dispassionate decision. I can't imagine they would assemble a better group of people. The RISE Fund was critical. As the motion says, it was 'supporting 541 projects in over 4,000 locations, creating over 195,000 job opportunities and experiences reaching more than 55 million Australians'. That's an amazing achievement in the space of three years.

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