Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's been terrific to visit MPs around the country who understand the power and value of artistic creativity like the members for Calare, Lingiari, Robertson and Newcastle. Their communities, like my own of Macquarie, are rich with creative talent, but, for the past decade, they haven't had a government really in their corner.

The Albanese government recognises the importance of the arts to all communities in the city and beyond. Our cultural policy, Revive, is about giving Australians access to the arts wherever they live, and we're backing that with new funding. We're investing an additional $199 million in Creative Australia, allowing it to support more artists to create work and allow more audiences to experience it. It's also why we're making a massive increase in the Regional Arts Fund from $3.6 million a year to $5.8 million a year. It's why we're investing $80 million to establish a national Aboriginal art gallery in Alice Springs and $5 million to upgrade facilities at the NAISDA Dance College on the Central Coast. It's why we're increasing support for community radio, which will amplify regional and local voices and support new Australian music.

I know the profound benefits of the arts to community wellbeing, and we're working hard to share those benefits as widely as we can, right across Australia.