Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Bill 2008. I am pleased to be able to speak on this ground-breaking legislation that fundamentally alters the way that visual art is bought and sold in Australia. Currently, any economic gain by an artist from a piece of art is limited to proceeds from the original sale. Once the item is sold the original artist cannot receive any further financial benefit from that item. This legislation proposes that artists receive a flat five per cent of the sale price every time a piece of art is resold. It recognises and continues to reward the intellectual property that is part of all pieces of visual art. The resale royalty right is to last for as long as copyright currently lasts, which is life plus 70 years. This will provide a benefit not only to the original artists but also to their families and heirs.

Resale royalty rights are to apply to all commercial resale of original works of over $1,000 from when the legislation takes effect. This is to moderate the administrative costs involved with the system. To be eligible, a potential right holder must be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident of Australia, or a national or citizen of a country where a reciprocal agreement is in place. The government has recognised that there will remain an administrative cost implicit in the system. Therefore, $1.5 million has been allocated to fund the implementation of the resale royalty scheme. There are significant options open for reciprocal agreements with other countries that have resale rights in place for visual artists. Many countries have already recognised the value of resale royalty rights and more than 30 countries have schemes in place, including the UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France and New Zealand.

There are controversies that exist with any piece of legislation, and discussions on the resale royalty rights for visual artists in Australia on previous occasions have been controversial. Opponents have argued that the main beneficiaries will be popular artists, that the scheme is inherently difficult with administrative costs, that art is often owned for a significant length of time, that the system differs from accepted notions of property ownership, and that collectors may hesitate to purchase works where resale rights still apply. That said, in my electorate of Forde we have amazing community and cultural groups, including Indigenous groups, and a developing art community in places like Tambourine Mountain. The implementation of resale royalty rights for visual artists will bring to fruition another 2007 election policy that I stood proudly behind as a candidate for Forde. From the rainforests of Lamington National Park to the sweeping mountainous views of Tamborine Mountain, if you can get the imagery, to the picturesque farming lands around Beaudesert, the beauty of Forde has long attracted visual artists to the local area—

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