Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I rise in support of the motion moved by the member for Macquarie, the Special Envoy for the Arts, on our national cultural policy and the importance of fostering our creative sector. The imperative of support for Australia's creative industries has never been more important. The industry broadly encapsulates many diverse mediums, such as theatre, film and television, music, literature, dance and video games, to just name a few broad categories. That's not to mention the contribution of the GLAM sector—galleries, libraries, archives and museums—integral to many others as the preservers, curators and purveyors of so many forms of cultural expression. For many kids, a good librarian can be a catalyst to unlocking a child's desire to not just read but also learn, regardless of where they live or go to school. This reinforces the point that the arts are not just a luxury for the privileged few; they are a necessity for all.

Many tourists from abroad might think of Australia through the romanticised images of red dirt and the vast expanses of our outback. Many tourists become encouraged to visit and breathe in the many beautiful landscapes throughout our country. As we all know, portraying it on screen can only do its beauty so much justice. This means tourism and a source of income for many regional townships.

Gough Whitlam stated in the 1972 election that a Whitlam government's arts policy would be one guided by four key objectives:

… to promote a standard of excellence in the arts, to widen access to, and the understanding and application of, the arts in the community generally, to help establish and express an Australian identity through the arts and to promote an awareness of Australian culture abroad.

We can largely say the same of Labor governments since then. It has exclusively been Labor prime ministers to set the tone of a national cultural policy.

The first national cultural policy was formulated under the prime ministership of Paul Keating, with the next being under Julia Gillard. It has fallen upon a Labor Prime Minister to do so yet again. As we know, the art and culture of a nation is reflective of national character by virtue of either its existence or its absence. On one side, there has been a party that when in government fosters the growth of the arts. On the other side you have, in the words of Paul Keating, those steeped in cultural cringe. I think our public discourse could benefit greatly if some of us embraced more culture and fewer culture wars. For some, sadly, the last time they immersed themselves in culture it involved accidentally spilling a tub of yoghurt on themselves. Who am I to dictate the way that culture is to ultimately be consumed or enjoyed?

I am proud of Labor's commitment to the arts, fostering the creative industries that contribute so widely and so greatly to our unique cultural growth in Australia, industries that have been in dire need of support and assistance not just due to the detrimental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic but also from nine long years of cultural cringe by a government that seemingly substituted this for an arts policy of their own. I remember the member for Cook posing with Guy Sebastian in an effort to drum up goodwill for an industry that had, by then, been gutted by the ravages of COVID, an experience that left even Guy feeling short-changed in a number of respects. It was always an interesting choice to set up a photo op with an Australian Idol standing next to an Australian identity best known by all for being idle.

Thankfully, we now have a Labor Prime Minister at the helm, who, along with the Minister for the Arts and the Special Envoy for the Arts, released our new national cultural policy, which occurred a few months ago: 'Revive, a place for every story, a story for every place'. It is a terrific way to encapsulate a lot of what Gough mentioned back in 1972. It is a way of saying that everyone can have an opportunity to contribute to culture and creative expression in Australia, regardless of where you hail from. As a Labor government, we look to provide certainty to the creative sector that funding is not contingent on the tastes, proclivities or other predispositions held by any given politician. The Albanese Labor government recognises that we are worse off as a nation when we don't invest in the arts.

When Australia is not contributing to our own zeitgeist, building upon our cultural infrastructure, we risk having others set it on our own behalf. But, at the very least, the broader arts sector should be safe in the knowledge that Labor will continue to stand up and support it, to help it to grow in fair-weather conditions and to endure the foul-weather conditions, too. Labor places great value and importance on the contribution the sector makes to our enduring cultural identity, to our economy and to how we are perceived abroad. Thank you for the work you do to entertain us and— (Time expired)

See this speech in context