George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw, Mr President. It was only an affectionate nickname. I have something of a weakness for affectionate nicknames.

Since the last Keating government budget in 1995 to this year’s 13th Howard government budget, funding for the arts in Australia has been increased from $410 million to $680 million, an increase of 65.8 per cent over that period. There have been increases in particular sectors of arts funding: an increase in funding to the Australia Council, which over the lifetime of the Howard government has had its funding increased from $73 million 12 years ago to $161 million this year, an increase of 110 per cent over the period; increases in funding of the visual arts and crafts strategy, including a 27 per cent increase in funding for that sector over the previous year; and an increase of 34 per cent in the major performing arts companies over the previous triennium. So there has been very, very strong support for the arts in Australia from the Howard government, not to mention, of course, the film package—which I am delighted the Senate passed yesterday—which invests $280 million over four years in the Australian film industry.

I want to get to some alternative policies. I could tell you, Senator Boyce, that one of the policies of the Australian Labor Party is to reduce funding to the arts. That has certainly been the experience of state Labor governments. The Australia Council has recently prepared a document of arts and cultural funding by state and territory governments for 2007-08, which discloses a reduction in arts funding by the New South Wales Labor government in the coming year of $19.8 million, or 6.5 per cent, and a reduction in arts funding by the Queensland government of $53.9 million, or 20.5 per cent. If you want to know what the Labor Party would do if they were in power, look no further than the state Labor governments that are in power.

In fairness, to give them their due, Mr Garrett, the shadow minister, produced a document—a very flimsy document—last Friday on federal Labor arts funding. They are going to have a review of the funding model of the Australia Council. That is on page 4. On page 5, we discover that they are going to have a review of the performance of ABAF, the Australian Business Arts Foundation. Then we go to page 7 and we find that we are going to have a review of the Regional Arts Australia strategy. And we only have to go over to page 8 to find that they will consider the review of the Australian National Academy of Music. I have not even read it very carefully, but that is four reviews in the first eight pages. Given that page 1 is a blank piece of paper, page 2 is a preamble, page 3 is a table of contents and page 4 is some rodomontade about the Howard government, that is not bad going at all. What you will find particularly interesting, Senator Boyce— (Time expired)