Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Support for the arts is not only a cultural imperative; it's an economic one. Astonishingly, cultural and creative activity contributed $112 billion—that's 6.4 per cent—to the GDP of Australia's economy in the 2016-2017 financial year. But the value of the arts cannot be reduced to a dollar figure. It is the quality and significance of the creative work that is of importance. The arts stimulate our minds and our imaginations. The arts provide our everyday lives with moments of beauty. That is why, as a member of the House Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts, I called for an inquiry into Australia's creative and cultural industries and institutions, including Indigenous, regional, rural and community based organisations.

The committee will consider the direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities of creative and cultural industries and how to recognise, measure and grow them; the non-economic benefits that enhance community and social wellbeing and promote Australia's national identity and how to recognise, measure and grow them; the best mechanism for ensuring cooperation and delivery of policy between all three layers of government; the impact of COVID on the creative and cultural industries; and, lastly, avenues for increasing access to and opportunities for Australia's creative and cultural industries through innovation and the digital environment. It's such an important time to be doing this, and I'm delighted to say that the first witnesses for the inquiry commence on Friday.

Locally in Higgins, we are home to some of the best and brightest upcoming and established artists. There is the amazing Chapel Off Chapel venue in the heart of Prahran, which hosts independent productions of musicals, including cabaret performances which are not to be missed. We're also lucky to have many stunning commercial art galleries. Just last Friday I was delighted to be invited to a tour of the Menzies fine art gallery in South Yarra by founder Rodney Menzies. The collection is impressive to say the least, and includes two of my favourite artists, the legendary Brett Whiteley and the whimsical Del Kathryn Barton.

In Higgins, we're also proud hosts of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a showcase of the best and newest LGBTIQ+ cinema. This year, just days after I helped launch the festival in March, the COVID lockdown happened. However, I'm pleased to say that, like so many other businesses and going concerns, the festival pivoted online to finish the season. I think we would all agree we're very much looking forward to 2021 delivering a much brighter and less restricted year than 2020.

This is not the only arts entity that suffered through COVID. We know that the pandemic has had a devastating effect on this industry, and I've listened to heartbreaking stories from local artists, actors and musicians about how the lockdown has virtually shut down their livelihoods. I've been listening to many from across the sector. Recently I met with local constituent Simon Dickie, someone with more than 40 years experience in the arts and entertainment industry, about what can be done to fast-track our recovery plan and help the creative and cultural industries to thrive once again as COVID restrictions across Victoria and, indeed, across the country are now easing. For anyone who would like to contribute to plans we should have going forward, please go to the Parliament of Australia website and look up the communication and the arts committee page to submit your views to the inquiry.

As the member for Higgins, I've heard from local businesses in the live music and gig economy, particularly in our arts entertainment precinct in Prahran and South Yarra, who've been doing it really tough through the extended Victorian lockdown. Local hotels in my electorate, which are popular venues for live music, such as Rosstown Hotel in Carnegie, met with me for a roundtable discussion about the unique challenges they were facing and how I could help them in this important recovery phase. The hospitality industry is an important part of this scene, providing the venues and audiences hand in glove. That is why our government is investing in growing jobs post COVID. A key component of that is in the budget, and that includes the JobMaker plan which encompasses an array of support mechanisms which will most certainly benefit our cultural and creative industries to help get them back on their feet.

This includes establishing a $4 billion JobMaker Hiring Credit to provide incentive for businesses to take on additional employees aged 16 to 35. I know from my discussions with locals in Higgins who are in this age category that the hiring credit will mean that they now have a real opportunity to get into a job, and there is no better support a government can provide than a job. As a mother of four young adults I know how they and their peers are concerned about the job market in this very tight economic situation that we find ourselves in. I support this JobMaker Hiring Credit. I think it's going to make a difference for so many people as they enter into the workforce coming into the post COVID period.

The Morrison government is also providing an additional $1.2 billion through the boosting apprenticeships wage subsidy to support up to 100,000 new apprentices and trainees; establishing a $1 billion JobTrainer fund to support free or low-fee training places for Australians to access skills by retraining or upskilling, which is also an incredibly important measure; boosting investment in digital business plans to the tune of $800 million, which will be important to help improve productivity, jobs and income growth by enabling businesses to take advantage of digital technologies. I think there has been nothing more clear than the fact that we are in the middle of a digital revolution. As I often say, the paint is not yet dry on the digital revolution. We have seen this in full force through COVID. It has been great to see the innovation and pivoting that's going on. It does come at a cost to these businesses and it's important that we help them got to that next stage.

This funding complements the Morrison government's $250 million JobMaker plan for the creative economy and the $400 million boost to the location incentive over seven years initiative. Quite frankly, this funding will be a godsend for those businesses, as Victoria and Australia emerges from what I would describe as a very long, deep and dark winter.

Our government has a proud history of investment if the arts, in particular our iconic arts and museums institutions. We are providing $22.9 million in funding for eight arts portfolio agencies. This includes $2 million to the National Maritime Museum, $2.5 million to the National Film and Sound Archive and $5.4 million to our wonderful National Library of Australia. As someone on the parliamentary committee of the library, I am very, very proud of that investment. Books are fantastic—take note. This critical funding will help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in their operations. I am also proud that we have committed $27 million to support Indigenous visual art centres, regional arts and, importantly, the live music and performance industry.

The arts is more than professional institutions. It is also just as much about community activities, and that is why I would like to make note of the inquiry which is going to look particularly at community activities and regional, rural and Indigenous activities, because these are very important and are sometimes overlooked aspects of our creative and cultural industries.

One of the local schools in my electorate—the King David School—is a recipient of a local school community fund grant from the Morrison government. I was proud to support this initiative and the construction of the beautiful Indigenous mural recognising our nation's first people. The artist for this mural explained that the artwork symbolises the deep connection we share on the value of community and being connected to our natural world, which so important in an inner-city electorate like Higgins. The arts weave into our lives each and every day, almost without us knowing it.

To conclude, this year has imposed an enormous impost on the arts. The restrictions imposed by COVID have been incredibly painful. This all leaves a big gap in the lives and hearts of our community. Our government understands that to have a thriving national economy, indeed for a deep sense of our national identity, we need to support our cultural and creative sectors to rebuild. To do this, we have announced more than $800 million in this year's budget of additional financial support to help those industries get back on their feet. But I would like to see a strategy going forward where all the investments across all the governments are actually hand in glove, so that there is a strategic initiative that the governments are partnering together to help get these industries back off their knees. We do this because we recognise the vital and important role of the arts in the lives of all Australians.