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

It's an honour to follow the member for Macquarie in speaking on the Creative Australia Amendment (Implementation of Revive) Bill 2024. She's our Special Envoy for the Arts and she has such a passionate commitment to the arts, and that started long before she's had that particular role. I particularly want to acknowledge all the work that she's done to engage people around Australia in the important work of our national institutions here in Canberra and to engage parliamentarians from this building and get them out, while they're here, to see the institutions. I want to thank the member for Macquarie for that. This bill is the culmination of months of hard work by the Minister for the Arts and his department, and I thank them for that work.

I want to start by talking about the incredible arts community here in my electorate of Canberra. Art in Canberra is thriving—from our national collecting institutions, who have had their funding restored, to the incredible plays and shows across the bridge at the soon-to-be-upgraded theatre centre, or our stunning natural landscape, which has been the subject of many a photographer's lens. Canberrans love art in all its forms, and we've all been following on social media the journey of Lindy Lee's Ouroboros, the 13-tonne sculpture that has been making its way on the back of a truck from Brisbane to the National Gallery of Australia, to mark its 40th birthday this year. We're all really looking forward to seeing that in person. That's why bills such as this are so important.

This bill establishes two new bodies within Creative Australia—First Nations Arts and Writing Australia—delivering on two key commitments announced in the National Cultural Policy. The Albanese Labor government is committed to supporting the arts, and our art community know just how genuinely passionate and interested in the arts our minister is. For Canberrans and the nation, it is so heartening to have a minister who actually enjoys going to the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery and having a conversation about art in all its forms with our community.

When we came to government, Labor restored funding to our important collecting institutions. I want to pay tribute to the minister again for making that happen. Just a few weeks ago, before the budget, I was really excited to join my ACT colleague the Minister for Finance, Senator Gallagher, at Albert Hall to announce that the Albanese government was funding the Canberra Symphony Orchestra to the tune of $4.1 million over four years. As a trained classical cellist and a former member of Canberra Youth Orchestra, Senator Gallagher was particularly proud of this announcement. It was another example of Labor investing in Canberra and investing in the arts, because that's what our government does.

In the years since we launched Revive, this government has established Creative Australia to modernise arts funding; reversed the significant coalition cuts to the sector that occurred under former minister Brandis; established Creative Workplaces to improve workplace standards and safety; established Music Australia to support the contemporary music industry; established Sharing the National Collection so that art from our institutions here in Canberra is shared with regional and suburban galleries; extended lending rights so Australian writers are better paid; boosted funding for performing arts training organisations; provided more support for games developers through Screen Australia; improved tax breaks for the video games industry; and increased funding to Sounds Australia to unlock international opportunities for our musicians. This is all genuine reform to our arts sector to ensure that it thrives.

This bill establishes First Nations Arts as a new body. The government recognises and respects the crucial place of First Nations stories at the centre of Australia's arts and culture. That's why First Nations art has been put as the first pillar of the cultural policy. First Nations Arts will be a dedicated new body to support and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts practice. The bill will establish a First Nations board which will oversee the work of First Nations Arts. The First Nations board will be unique in that it will have autonomy over the allocation of funds for investment in First Nations art. The government believes that First Nations Arts should be First Nations led. The board will also promote best practice in First Nations cultural protocols in the arts; provide financial assistance to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts practice; advise the Australia Council board on the responsibilities of First Nations Arts; and report its performance to the Australia Council board.

Since the introduction of Revive, the government has been delivering for First Nations artists. This includes providing $5 million to upgrade training facilities at the NAISDA Dance College Kariong campus; launching Australia's Action Plan for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, providing a framework to guide Australia's participation in the decade; providing continued support for First Nations people to express, conserve and maintain their culture through languages and the arts, under the Indigenous Languages and Arts program; continuing to invest in First Nations arts centres, as well as pivotal sector organisations, through the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program to benefit First Nations communities; and continuing to seek the voluntary and unconditional return of First Nations ancestors and cultural heritage material held overseas and domestically, particularly the return of First Nations ancestors and secret sacred objects held in eight major museums.

This bill also establishes Writing Australia. Writing Australia will be a new body to support and promote the Australian literature sector. It will be responsible for supporting authors, illustrators and publishers to create new works; investing in a network of key organisations; developing national industry initiatives; and increasing national and international markets. New technology is disrupting the landscape for writers, and there is a need for government policy to be modernised for these artists. Writing Australia has been deliberately designed to reach into the commercial sectors, where traditional grants funding models have had limited success. This body will become a policy engine for the sector, building partnerships and expertise that will both support artists directly and benefit Australian audiences. This bill demonstrates the government's commitment to improving the quality of investment in the arts sector and to strengthening and streamlining access to support, including for artists and arts organisations.

We know that, under the previous government, federal support for many artists in the country was lacking for many years. Our arts sector has, for too long, been dismissed and not received the respect it deserves. We saw this particularly during the COVID pandemic, when artists missed out on much of the support that was offered, even though the arts were such a critical part of our community getting through that really challenging time. Who could have got through the lockdowns without some of the great books to read or television series to watch or music to listen to? This was a time that made us realise just how important the arts are, in so many ways—to tell our stories, to inspire us. Through that, we realise how incredibly important artists are and that they do need the backing of federal government to ensure that they can continue to do what they do and to thrive in what they are doing—to inspire Australians and to tell our story so the rest of the world can appreciate all that we have to offer.

They're incredibly important to Australia and the Australian way of life. From Bluey to Blue Poles, from The Manfrom Snowy River to Budjerah, who we were lucky enough to see perform in the Great Hall here last night, from the much-loved Belconnen Owl to the Ouroboros, about to take its place at the NGA, art tells our stories and enriches our culture. Creative Australians who dedicate their lives to enriching our own lives with their art deserve the utmost respect and support from the government. The Revive cultural policy is key to that, and these ongoing reforms will change the way that government engages with artists and the arts forever. This bill is an important step along that journey, and I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context