Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australia Council Amendment (Creative Australia) Bill 2023, which I will refer to as the Creative Australia bill. This, I understand, is the first in a series of bills that will implement the government's national cultural policy, Revive, announced on 30 January this year, so I will save the majority of my remarks on the policy itself for a later time. I note only that, on first glance, it offers nothing—or, in fact, very little—for the people of Flinders, whose arts and cultural activity remain beyond the remit of the Australia Council or, indeed, of public funding through Regional Arts Victoria, as we are not considered regional but for very small slivers of the peninsula where our cultural bodies tend not to be resident.

The Australia Council is the vehicle by which the government intends to implement the national cultural policy. This bill provides for the Australia Council to operate under the name 'Creative Australia' as an interim measure. It is, in that respect, the beginning of a rebranding exercise for the Australia Council for the Arts, which has been known as such since it was established by the Rt Hon. Harold Holt, Liberal Prime Minister of Australia, when he rose in this place on 1 November 1967, albeit a bit further down the hill, and he said:

I now wish to inform the House of two decisions by the Government and a number of other developments in the field of cultural activities.

The Government, for some time, has been actively considering ways to increase, at national level, Commonwealth patronage of the arts without creating a monolithic structure which could inhibit the free play of our cultural interests and enthusiasms at all levels. For some years now Government encouragement for the arts in general has been increasing and we feel that financial aid properly directed on the best advice is one significant area where the Commonwealth Government can provide material assistance. We need to ensure that we have a system for giving financial assistance which takes full account of the important role played, not only by State governments, but by municipal governments and a host of professional and amateur organisations throughout the country.

With this in mind the Government, in its first decision on cultural activities, has decided to establish an Australian Council for the Arts to be its financial agent and adviser on the performing arts and other activities connected with the arts in general.

Thus began the life of the Australia Council for the Arts, which has continued in more or less the same form under the same name for over 50 years.

I had the great pleasure of serving on the board of the Australia Council for six of those years, and I recognise here the remarkable people both with whom I served on that board and across the Australia Council's leadership, who deserve our gratitude for the dynamic state in which our cultural sector finds itself after the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. I particularly recognise Adrian Collette, CEO, and Tim Blackwell, executive director of corporate resources, who worked so closely with Dr Stephen Arnott, deputy secretary of creative economy and the arts, whose partnership and tireless work helped to sustain the Australian cultural sector through those dark years.

More meaningfully, this bill merges Creative Partnerships Australia with the Australia Council, soon to be Creative Australia. Creative Partnerships Australia was created by the Rudd Labor government under the stewardship of arts enthusiast and former Labor leader Simon Crean back in 2013. Its establishment followed a thorough review of private sector support for the arts undertaken by Harold Mitchell. At that time, it brought together two independent—yet successful—bodies focused on arts philanthropy: the Australian Business Arts Foundation and Artsupport. Its inaugural CEO, who remains CEO to this day, is Ms Fiona Menzies, who brought to that role a successful career in arts administration and leadership in arts policy at the national level.

Under the leadership of Ms Menzies and a remarkable line-up of directors engaged across arts and culture in Australia, Creative Partnerships has been extremely effective in its task of raising philanthropic support for the arts. In its last financial year, it raised almost $10 million from over 9,000 individual donors. In its first year, it raised less than $1 million. It is worth noting that its peak fundraising achievements occurred in a COVID affected year. The CPA staff are experts in arts fundraising. The sector has benefited enormously from their independence from the government's funding priorities and processes. In addition, they have provided a vital and impartial source of advice to the sector, with a local presence in most capital cities.

It is proposed that these functions be absorbed by the Australia Council. It's worth noting briefly that the Council tried its hand at philanthropic activity in the past, without resounding success. In my time on the board, a co-investment subcommittee—

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