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

I move:

That this House notes that:

(1) the arts and creativity make a valuable contribution to the quality of life, cultural identity and individual wellbeing in regional communities;

(2) the arts and creativity can drive economic development by encouraging tourism, supporting small businesses, diversifying employment opportunities and providing skilled jobs;

(3) to tell the Australian story, regional voices must be heard;

(4) the new National Cultural Policy, 'Revive', commits new funding to creativity in regional Australia; and

(5) Revive will provide new investment and new vision for the cultural sector and begin repairing the damage caused by a decade of neglect of the arts by the previous Government.

I recently headed to the Mornington Peninsula to host a round table on regional arts with the member for Flinders and once again saw the importance of the arts in areas outside of cities and the commitment of people working in that sector, often as volunteers, to provide opportunities for participation in the arts. We were generously hosted by Julie Collins at & Gallery in Sorrento, and I thank everyone who joined us. I walked away with many ideas, including being reminded why we have commercial galleries talked about in our national cultural policy, Revive. They are a key component that supports the arts, especially in regional areas. To tell the Australian story, regional voices must be heard. The Albanese government believes creativity has a place in every community and that every Australian has a right to creative expression and to participate in the arts, no matter their postcode. The arts brings people together and improves community wellbeing. It invigorates regional economies, supports local jobs, encourages cultural tourism and improves the quality of life in regional areas.

One of the organisations that have long known and championed this is Regional Arts Australia. I had the privilege of speaking at their 80th anniversary celebration recently. Regional Arts Australia contracts regional arts organisations in each state and territory to deliver our Regional Arts Fund, awarding grants to artists, arts workers and organisations. We heard from Marta Dusseldorp, now settled in regional Tasmania, who spoke powerfully about the need to support regional communities to tell their stories and what we all stand to gain when we hear those stories. Of course, Bay of Fires on ABC iview is a great example of those stories. I'm looking forward to engaging in regional arts this coming weekend in Queenstown, Tasmania, attending the Unconformity festival with Tassie arts champion Senator Anne Urquhart. My own electorate of Macquarie plays host to the Blue Mountains Writers' Festival this weekend, and I'm proud to be a sponsor of that important cultural event. It's always engaging and often thought provoking, and I know it will attract visitors and locals alike.

What I see in common with all regional and remote areas is a desire that they be supported to tell their own stories on their terms and share them with the rest of the country. Given the central ambition of our new national cultural policy, Revive, is that there is a place for every story and a story for every place, here are some of the practical ways that we're realising that ambition. We're investing an additional $8.5 million over four years in the Regional Arts Fund, bringing the annual spend from $3.7 million to $5.8 million a year so more great regional artists and organisations can be supported to create and share their work. Creative Australia continues to be an important source of support for regional creativity, but under the coalition it was starved of the funding it needed to do its job when arts minister George Brandis raided the Australia Council budget in 2015. It was individual artists and small to medium arts organisations that were hit hardest, and it meant regional arts was badly hurt. Our $199 million in additional funding to Creative Australia over four years will expand the support it provides to the sector and allow more individual artists and more small to medium organisations to be supported right across the country.

We're also supporting the development of cultural infrastructure in regional areas, such as the $13 million to develop the Burnie cultural precinct in Tassie, plus new support for Bundanon in the beautiful Shoalhaven region. I know the member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, has been a committed advocate for Bundanon, and I know she shares my delight that it will receive an additional $10 million a year to support its artists-in-residence and its gallery operations. We're also investing $12 million in the new Sharing the National Collection initiative, which will do long-term loans from the National Gallery of Australia to suburban and regional galleries throughout the country. Loans already announced include works by Monet and Margaret Olley to Tweed Regional Gallery in Murwillumbah, which I know the member for Richmond will be excited about; works by Imants Tillers and David Hockney to the Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast; and a work by Ron Mueck to Maitland Regional Art Gallery, which the member for Paterson tells me she's keen to see. There's much more to be done, and we're committed to backing regional artists because we recognise their contribution to vibrant, strong and prosperous regions.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

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

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I like the member for Macquarie, but sometimes I think Labor members come into this place and want to read a shopping list of faults that came under the coalition's watch. It is not the truth. In the spirit of bipartisanship, here we go, I'm going to praise the Labor candidate who ran against me in 2013 and 2016. Thankfully he didn't win, and that's why I'm here. But Tim Kurylowicz is the executive director at Eastern Riverina Arts, and you know what? He's doing a good job. He stood beside me at the new arts precinct in Temora, federally funded by, wait for it, the coalition government. We were proud to open that facility because we know, as does the member for Macquarie, just how important regional arts funding is. I am happy to work alongside Tim to make sure arts gets its appropriate funding across the eastern Riverina, across the electorate, into places such as Temora, into large cities such as Wagga Wagga but the smaller towns and villages as well. As I said, he is doing a good job.

This motion needs to also recognise and acknowledge that funding for the arts reached record levels under the coalition government. In fact it was not only printed in the budget papers but delivered in galleries right across the nation on the ground, and I know how important it was for the member for Bradfield, whose speaking spot I have taken—he has other things on at the moment—when COVID hit to make sure we got the funding out to events right across regional Australia in particular and right across the nation but also to the sorts of things we could keep going during those difficult and dark days. I know how important it was for him and for us as a coalition government and as an opposition now that funding should be as much as possible going to support artists, performers, arts workers, backstage crew, ushers, front of house—all of the people who work to deliver the arts and cultural activities that are so important to all Australians.

That's what we did in government, and that's what we will keep this government to account for in opposition. Annual Commonwealth arts funding reached a record level of $1 billion in 2021-22 under the coalition. Labor has not surpassed that. Labor members come in here and get their talking points from the dirt unit or the talking point department, wherever they get them from. They all do it. They all come in—it doesn't matter what motion we're talking about—they stand here and they just read every line as though it were the truth. Just because it's on the piece of paper, just because you've been told to say that, doesn't mean you have to blindly go along with it. We did put money into the arts. We did put money into artists, particularly during COVID. It was so tough and so difficult for all those artists during COVID. I think we all acknowledge that, and we all recognise the role they played in trying to lift spirits as best they could with the funding made available to them by the coalition government, by the nation, to help them during that very difficult period.

I appreciate that this is about artists, but it's also about show societies right throughout regional Australia—particularly for infrastructure upgrades. Some might say, 'What do show societies have to do with artists?' They actually employ a lot of artists. That's where, sometimes, the nation's budding artists have their first works displayed. The schoolchildren of the Riverina and central west, right throughout the regions, at the Sydney royal and elsewhere—that's where they get their first opportunity to display their talents, and that is why we provided so much money. In fact, 541 shows and events all around Australia were funded under our $200 million fund Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand—cleverly named 'RISE'. That was during COVID. We will continue to make sure arts and culture play an important part in this nation because they're important to the nation and they're important to our future.

David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Arts, culture and history are vital parts of our national identity. Safeguarding these for future generations is a key responsibility of any national government. This morning, I rise to speak in favour of the motion moved by the member for Macquarie and Special Envoy for the Arts. What a champion she is for the arts! I have been a proud advocate for our national cultural institutions for as long as I've been involved in public life. I'm pleased to be part of a government that recognises the need to ensure that these institutions who care for our arts and history are supported and celebrated.

Across this country, there are thousands of diverse cultural organisations that make an immense positive contribution to our local, state and national story. As the member for Bean, co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of the Capital Region, and co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums—or GLAM—I am particularly proud to work with the cultural and historical organisations at both local and national levels, particularly those that have their home in our nation's capital and region. These institutions tell the stories of Australia from local heritage places such as Lanyon Homestead to establishments of national significance like the Museum of Australian Democracy and the National Gallery. Preserving and conserving our national heritage is a key priority of this government, and forms a central part of Revive, our new national cultural policy.

Last week, I had the privilege of receiving a behind-the-scenes tour of the National Film and Sound Archive on the grounds of the Australian National University. The National Film and Sound Archive records our audiovisual history, from the first radio broadcast to episodes of Home and Away and striking national moments like the 2008 National Apology to the Stolen Generations. With constantly changing technology and rapidly decaying film and video archives, the archivists and technicians at NFSA are in a race against time to preserve these aspects of our national story. These challenges require diverse and precise skills and instruments. For that, they're in greater need than ever of national support.

Canberra was one of the largest victims of the former government's policy neglect when it came to the arts. For nine years, coalition arts ministers sat idle as crucial maintenance spending was spent on slush funds, and vital programs faced funding cliffs. An example of this was the National Library's Trove platform, which provides digital access to cultural collections throughout the country. For those living in regional and remote areas, it's particularly valuable. But under the previous government's plans, funding for this service is going to run out on 30 June this year. Thanks to the Albanese government's intervention, that funding was extended. After a decade of underfunding and neglect by the former government, this year's budget allocated over $535 million over the next four years to ensure ongoing and stable funding of the nine national collecting institutions, including the NFSA.

As the Prime Minister has said, these are special places, and we should be proud of them. They preserve, protect, and celebrate Australia's stories and history. This government is committed to preserving, protecting, and celebrating them.

Not only does a well-funded creative and cultural industry bring so much to our lives as Australians, it's also fundamental to a strong national economy. Arts and cultural events organisations and institutions drive tourism, employment and economic development from our regions to our bigger cities.

Revive, the new cultural policy championed by this government, will channel funding to support the $17 billion industry to rebound after a decade of coalition funding cuts and the devastation of the COVID pandemic. This policy will cover all aspects of our national cultural assets from creative arts to history and archiving. I would like to acknowledge the dedicated public servants, independent artists and musicians whose tireless and ongoing work and advocacy is so essential to enriching our lives and preserving our national history.

I thank the member for Macquarie for this motion, and the tireless work she has done to restore and grow the arts and regional arts sector that was left devastated by the COVID pandemic and nine years of Liberal-National government. I invite all in this House to come to the capital showcase this Wednesday, which will be an opportunity to match the providores of this region with the extraordinary national cultural institutions which will be on show for all to see.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with pleasure that I rise to speak on this motion. It's a very important one. The arts has a big role to play in many regional communities. In the electorate of Casey, it's at the heart of what we do and who we are. For myself, personally, as the son of an artist and a musician, it is always nice to stand and talk about the arts. I've seen firsthand the impact it's had on my family, with my deep connection to the arts community throughout our area. It does so many things to bring us together to celebrate what is special about our community and about our country, but one of the things where the arts, in particular in my community, is so valuable is when it brings us together after a tragedy or a natural disaster. It allows people to heal, and not just those artists to heal, but the community.

In June of 2021, my community was devastated by what we call the 'June storms'. Houses were without power for months. We were lucky that no lives were lost. We still do not know how no lives were lost. But trees, hundreds of feet tall, fell down. Houses were hit, and people experienced trauma as they were stuck in their houses, particularly on the Dandenong Ranges. They could just hear this terrible crash after crash in the darkness. I heard terrible stories of houses being split in half and half of the family at one end of the house and the other half of the family at the other end, not being able to communicate. Not knowing if their families were alive. We were fortunate that no-one was lost, as I said. But that trauma doesn't leave those people.

But our community rallied after that. I want to pay particular credit to Burrinja in Upwey. They did many programs and many works for students and for artists to heal after the storms. It was a big part of our community. Burrinja is much loved, all through the Dandenong Ranges. They played a key role.

I was also fortunate, in September last year, to visit the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum for the opening of The Big Anxiety, a dedicated program where those that had been impacted by the storms could share their stories. As everyone in this House knows, sometimes we are fortunate to meet amazing people and to listen to their stories. When those young people—teenagers and young adults—shared their stories and their trauma of that night, and how the arts helped them find a way forward, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It is crucial that we continue to support the arts in every way we can.

Those opposite do like to run with a very standard line about nothing happening in the 10 years of the coalition government. The only problem with that is that it doesn't stack up with the facts and the budget, which is there in black and white. As the member for Riverina said, the $1 billion in funding in 2021-22 was record funding for the arts sector, but also, importantly, the $200 million in the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand Fund, the RISE Fund, helped the arts community to get through COVID, to get on their feet. Again, Burrinja in my community was fortunate to receive funding from that program. I speak to Gareth Hart, the CEO, often. He talks about how crucial that funding was to keeping them going, to keeping the community going and, again, to keeping them connected and having something to celebrate in times of challenge.

Just last Sunday, I was at Belgrave Heights. We were visiting for the launch of Carabiner Bench (Nature found no fault with me). That was a program at Birdsland Reserve in Belgrave, an outdoor spot to bring people together. It was about connection. It brought Tay, a lead artist, together with other artists to collaborate on an amazing project. People can sit, reflect and understand that nature does not judge you. It doesn't matter who you are, where you are, where you've been or where you're from. I think that is an important message we should all take in light of significant events here in Australia and overseas.

But the best part of that project was watching those young artists connect. None of them knew each other at the start of the project, but looking at them talking, laughing and spending time together it was like they'd been friends for a lifetime. That's the power of the arts. That's why I'll always support additional funding for our arts community.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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)

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to speak on this motion about Revive, because Revive commits new funding to creativity in regional Australia, including in my electorate of Mayo. Mayo is one of the most creative hotspots in the nation, and this was really on show during the South Australian Living Arts Festival. We affectionately refer to that as SALA. The festival celebrated 25 years, with over 600 venues and 9,000 artists, and truly provided a feast for the senses. We have a thriving community arts scene throughout the year, from the Adelaide Hills, down the Fleurieu and on to Kangaroo Island, and they are well supported by community, because we value art in every medium. I thought I'd mention just a few of those. We've got Ink Pot Arts, the Stirling Players, Yankalilla Youth Theatre, the Hills School of Theatre Arts, the Stirling Community Theatre, the Adelaide Hills Performing Arts Centre, Adelaide Hills Rockit Performing Arts, Theatre Bugs, the South Coast Choral and Arts Society, the JamaeRaw School Of Performing Arts, Fortuna House of Performing Arts, Fleurieu Dance Collective, and Laughing Llama Dance and Drama. They're just the performing arts organisations in my electorate.

In my time as the member for Mayo I have met with so many groups who are seeking to create spaces to develop their passions, whether it's music, song, dance or theatre, and for people of all ages, which is really important. Yvette Wolf established the Yankalilla Youth Theatre and has shared with me her vision for the theatre's future, about the ways she does workshops. She wants to encourage all young people, particularly young people who don't necessarily gravitate to sport. We need to make sure we've got exciting spaces and opportunities to let all young people thrive. And the Stirling Players—I'm one of their patrons. Last year they celebrated 50 years, and I've got to say, I do love going along, particularly to their opening nights. I've seen so many wonderful productions with the Stirling Players. And Ink Pot Arts offer regular workshops for children, young people and adults, from dance and drama to creative writing and improv sessions. They make art accessible to everyone.

We all know there is a strong relationship between the development of cognitive capacity through visual arts and improvements in academic and social performance. Artistic expression has helped develop individual creativity and self-expression as well as the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that we all need. Henri Matisse said that creativity takes courage. And it takes courage for people to get up on that stage, to sing, to dance, to write and to share their soul with all of us. We can draw on personal experience in shaping that soul and shaping that story. Revive provides a platform through which to recognise the contribution of artists and societies and to allow us all to enjoy and watch them flourish.

I'd like to end by listing a few of the galleries, and I hope I haven't missed anyone. We've got Hahndorf Academy, The Cedars, UKARIA Cultural Centre—I was recently there for an amazing performance by a New York jazz musician—the Hills Sculpture Trail, Crystal Lake Sculpture Park at Macclesfield, Fabrik at Lobethal, the Lucent Art House, the Top of the Torrens Gallery in Birdwood, the Coach House Studio in Gumeracha, Atelier in Crafers, the Bamfurlong Fine Crafts, Field Trip in Balhannah, the Aboriginal Art House in Hahndorf, Tineriba Tribal Gallery and Tineriba Fine Arts in Hahndorf, The Strand Gallery at Port Elliot and Gallery 45 also in Port Elliot. We've also got ArtWorx Gallery in Goolwa, Art@Goolwa Inc., Sand Drift Gallery at Goolwa, the Signal Point Gallery at Goolwa—that's incredibly important and undergoing renovations—the Victor Harbour Regional Gallery, the Coral Street Art Space, the Ocean Blue Arts, Yankalilla Yarns and Fine Arts Studio/Gallery, Gallery88 at Yankalilla, Fine Art Kangaroo Island Gallery, Shep's Studio, the Kangaroo Island Gallery and the Baudin Beach Artworks Gallery that I would absolutely recommend to everyone in my community. When you go to Kangaroo Island, make sure you get to the Baudin Beach Artworks Gallery. I bought some beautiful little Christmas presents there not too long ago. I'm not even mentioning the wonderful illustrators in my electorate that are illustrating children's books, those who are painting murals across our community. Art truly fills our soul with joy and makes our community feel alive. I thank all of the artists that live in Mayo. I send great support to you all.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.