Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, the arts do matter—to the member for Gellibrand—but I don't just want to support international artists, including the great Reginald Dwight, Sir Elton John; I want to support Australian artists as well. I want to support Australian artists in making sure that they have a career, a future and an opportunity because, believe it or not, Speaker, my background originally is actually in the arts. My first degree at university was in fine art, majoring in painting, and I was going to pursue a career as a painter and printmaker. Circumstances intervened, and a passion for public policy and the good of the nation took priority. But that doesn't change the fact that there are millions of Australians who have chosen to make the arts their career. There are those who have done so through their passion for singing and performance—and, yes, sometimes including people in this chamber—and there are also those who paint for a living and who create and reflect society back to itself.

That's the enduring power of the arts. They prompts us to reflect on what we do. I don't mean 'we' as in the people in this chamber; I mean the whole of the community. It's an opportunity to speak about discomforts and injustices and to bring joy and hope and inspiration to many people. The role the arts play in enriching our community is profound, and I don't think anybody in this chamber would dispute that. Artists have been at the forefront of the worst burdens of the lockdowns, particularly in the great state of Victoria, the home of art and culture and cultural appreciation in this country, the home of our literary traditions, the home of—let's face it—most things which are good in this great country, except perhaps for one government at the moment. The arts are critical to our tourism sector, particularly in Victoria, because people travel from all across the nation and sometimes internationally to see some of its most fantastic institutions, like the National Gallery of Victoria, and live performances at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

That's why the Morrison government has been so clear in supporting the arts sector throughout this pandemic, putting a whopping $750 million on the table to assist with supporting the arts across the country. We know that artists are doing it tough, and we know that when artists can't perform they can't get income. Thankfully, the arts community have been adaptive and have seen the opportunity for what they provide to move online and into the community. Many people are relying on the arts community in their isolation. I can say with absolute confidence that during my two-week quarantine I did consume some of the cultural products of the nation to keep myself entertained, and that's exactly what a lot of families in Victoria are doing right now. They're relying on our television content creators, they're relying on being able to stream performances into their homes and they're relying on a reflection of our own country back to us to understand where we're placed in the world. That's why it's so critical and so important to support the arts.

The biggest challenge we've had during this pandemic has been the deception, sadly, by some of the unions about the sector's access to the JobKeeper program. Of course, there has been no such exclusion of the arts sector; it is just dishonest to say so. There was one sector excluded from the JobKeeper program—the banking sector. That was one section of private enterprise that was excluded. They have no right to complain, but they were definitely excluded. The arts sector was not. Despite that, the union continued to mislead and deceive its members about what was going on, often to the detriment of people who were seeking and working towards what they could do to support themselves. This government isn't going to give into deception. This government is going to support the arts community now and into the future as part of the cultural life of the nation.

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