Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wasn't going to speak in relation to this piece of legislation, the Creative Australia Bill 2023 and the related bill, but I was moved to speak to defend my very good friend ex-senator George Brandis, who was the Leader of the Government in the Senate and was the arts minister. I can remember when George Brandis was appointed arts minister and was appointed sports minister at the same time—and, I must say, it was the subject of some reflection by those of us who have known George for a long time that he was appointed sports minister as well as arts minister! I can remember congratulating him when he was appointed arts minister, and I think he was absolutely outstanding as an arts minister. The feedback I received not from politicians, not from senators, but from those involved in the arts in Queensland, was that he was considered an outstanding arts minister—just as my party, the Liberal Party, has produced many outstanding arts ministers at all levels of government over the decades.

The first point I want to make is: if you listened to those opposite—for those in the gallery listening to this debate and no doubt the millions of people at home listening to the debate—you would have thought the coalition government spent no money on arts. That's what you would think—that we did nothing, that it was a barren wasteland, that it was a desert devoid of all culture. The reality—and this isn't just political rhetoric, not Senator Bilyk's political rhetoric; these are the facts—is that, in the 2021-22 financial year, the coalition government delivered record arts funding. Would you have known that from the speeches you heard from those opposite? You would have thought we didn't give a brass razoo to the arts. But, in fact, we delivered record arts funding of over $1 billion. No Labor government has ever matched this level of funding for the arts. It was over $1 billion in 2021-22.

I saw the impact of that in the region in Queensland where my office is based. I have gone to regional art galleries who've been able to put on exhibitions from local artists, including the wonderful art gallery of Toogoolawah in the Somerset region. They were able to put on those exhibitions because of the support that they received from the coalition government. The cinemas were able to keep their doors open during the COVID pandemic because of the support they got from the coalition government.

My main point with respect to the policy we are hearing from those opposite—and this is the main difference between Labor and the coalition in terms of policy on this point—is that we philosophically believe any money provided by the government in relation to supporting the arts should actually go to the artist. That's what we believe. The money that's coming from government—that's taxpayers' money—should be delivered in the most efficient and effective way possible to the artists. For the theatre companies, the ballet companies, the opera companies, the symphonies all across Australia, the regional art galleries and whatever—we should get as much money as we can as efficiently and effectively to the artists, not build layers of bureaucracy for people sitting in offices in Canberra to determine what the culture of Australia should be. That culture is determined by the people of Australia. To the extent that the government provides support for the arts, it should be delivered directly to the artists and the performing companies themselves so that they can display their creativity and have support to express their creativity, rather than bureaucrats in Canberra determining what their creative output should be. That's our main philosophical concern.