The Australian Labor Party was vowed to dismantle the George Brandis vanity fund Catalyst and restore Arts Funding back with the Australia Council.
In a statement from the Labor Party revealed by Labor leader Bill Shorten in Melbourne last weekend, “Australia’s arts sector has struggled under the Abbott-Turnbull Government. From huge cuts to the Australia Council to the steady strangling of national cultural institutions and the messy upheaval caused by George Brandis’ disgraceful intervention in well-established funding programs, the past few years have been tough.
Labor understands the importance of the Arts Sector and especially Australia’s contemporary music industry.
The Labor statement says “Australia is the 6th largest music market in the world and has the potential to become a significant global exporter of contemporary music. The talent of contemporary Australian musicians should be shared with the world.
“A Shorten Labor Government will strengthen Australia’s contemporary live music industry by bringing the Live Music Office and the Australian Music Centre under the umbrella of an expanded Sounds Australia to deliver export, domestic and content management strategies.
“Sounds Australia is Australia’s music export market development initiative – fast-tracking Australian music success globally.
This new structure will leverage and expand its success to support the development of Australia’s live music export industry. It will also formalise a four-year industry and government investment partnership to strengthen one of our greatest creative industries.
“Artists like Courtney Barnett, Vance Joy, Sheppard and Gossling have already benefited from the exposure to new markets and international performance opportunities fostered by Sounds Australia.
“The expanded Sounds Australia will develop and strengthen three key areas:
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• Export: Expand the operation of Sounds Australia to include the export of all music genres to key and emerging international markets.
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• Domestic: Expand the remit of the Live Music Office to include all genres and venue types.
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• Content Management: Use the Australian Music Centre content management system to aggregate and promote Australian artists and music content.
“Labor will commit $1.8 million a year over four years to support the expanded Sounds Australia. This will operate as a public-private investment partnership between Government and the music sector. Through this partnership the music industry will provide an additional annual investment of $500,000 a year.
“This initiative will grow job opportunities including for artists, their managers and a range of affiliated professionals such as digital content managers and promotion and production workers. A greater number and genre of artists will benefit from the expanded services and markets provided by Sounds Australia, enabling them to gain exposure to wider audiences and markets both domestically and internationally”.
The statement continues, “The Abbott-Turnbull Government’s savage cuts to the ABC have added salt to the wound. Traditionally, Australian stories have been safeguarded by Australian content quotas on commercial broadcasters and funding to the ABC. The increased acquisition and availability of foreign small-screen content has seen the dilution of unique Australian stories and voices”.
Since 2013 the Liberal National Party has cut $140 million from the Australia Council and:
• Abolished the Australian Interactive Games Fund.
• Abolished the Get Reading! Programme.
• Abolished Australian Arts in Asia Award.
• Abolished the Book Council of Australia.
• Cut $38.7 million from Screen Australia.
• Cut $33.8 million from Arts Ministry programs.
• Cut $1.8 million support to the Asian cultural activities program.
• Cut $9.5 million over four years from the Indigenous Languages Support Program.
• Cut $36.8 million from museums and galleries.
Among the organisations no longer funded are:
• Arena Theatre (Melbourne)
• AsiaLink (Melbourne)
• Ausdance (national)
• Australian Design Centre (Sydney)
• Australian Experimental Art Foundation (Adelaide)
• Black Arm Band (Melbourne)
• Brink Productions (Adelaide)
• Canberra Contemporary Art Space (Canberra)
• Centre for Contemporary Photography (Melbourne)
• Contemporary Art Centre South Australia (Adelaide)
• Cultural Partnerships Australia (Newcastle)
• Express Media (Melbourne)
• Force Majeure (Sydney)
• KAGE Physical Theatre (Melbourne)
• Legs on the Wall (Sydney)
• Meanjin (Melbourne)
• Mosman Art Gallery (Sydney)
• National Association for the Visual Arts (based in Sydney)
• Next Wave Festival (Melbourne)
• PACT centre for emerging artists (Sydney)
• Phillip Adams Ballet Lab (Melbourne)
• Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre (Melbourne)
• Slingsby (Adelaide)
• Snuff Puppets (Melbourne)
• Synergy (Sydney)
• Taikoz (Sydney)
• Theatre Works (Melbourne)
• Vitalstatistix (Adelaide)
* Wangaratta Festival of Jazz (regional Victoria)
Labor promises that “A Shorten Labor Government will undo the damage and restore Australia’s arts sector to its rightful place at the centre of our cultural life. We have a comprehensive plan for the arts that will see this sector thrive and grow again, reaching out to touch the lives of all Australians”.
Full details of the plan can be found here http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/creative_industries_creative_country
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