Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is bizarre and unacceptable that the budget has taken $105 million from the Australia Council when the council is in the first year of implementing the strategic plan that the minister himself launched. That strategic plan was based on two years of careful and extensive consultation. It put forward a number of reforms and improvements—all for nothing, it would seem.

I know that individual artists, as well as arts organisations in Western Australia—especially small- to medium-sized outfits like Barking Gecko Theatre Company; Yirra Yaakin Aboriginal theatre company; and the Blue Room Theatre, where Tim Minchin produced some of his first works, STRUT Dance and PICA to name a few—are deeply concerned at the impact the savage cut will have on their viability.

In responding to the cuts, the Australia Council has announced that it will have to cancel ArtStart and Creative Communities Partnerships Initiative, and suspend the newly-created six-year funding program. This will throw arts organisations back onto the tiring and inefficient merry-go-round of perpetual grant fund applications.

This government often talks about the importance of certainty. Certainty for business is essential, and certainty for investment—we have to have that. But certainty is no less important for artists and arts organisations. I call upon the Minister for the Arts to ensure that the diverse ecology of the Australian art sector is able to continue to create great art for all Australians.