Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The modern Australian Labor Party is a proud supporter of the Australian arts industry. From Gough Whitlam to Paul Keating's Creative Nation or Julia Gillard's Creative Australia, Labor has a vision for the arts. You don't have to go back far to see what the Liberals and Nationals actually think of the arts portfolio. The Morrison government was so obsessed with culture wars it even removed the word 'arts' from the names of government departments. That was not an Orwellian metaphor; it was a blunt-trauma blow to a major sector of our economy. Under the coalition, the arts endured nearly a decade of cuts and, even worse, interference.

Don't be fooled. The Luddites opposite—with respect to those actually sitting opposite me, the coalition—would talk about the so-called record investment in 2021-22, but there are a few caveats that people should understand. Firstly, when the COVID pandemic first hit, the arts minister, Paul Fletcher, went missing for the first 100 days. As COVID was hitting the arts sector hardest, with mass cancellations of live performances and shows, their minister went into hiding. The Morrison government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to support the arts sector during the pandemic, right when artists desperately needed help.

Of course, when they did finally provide some support, they didn't tell the truth. Minister Fletcher claimed that the arts sector received up to $10 billion in support, which included JobKeeper. What he failed to say was that part of the record funding didn't just go to the arts sector. But, then again, if you don't see the arts as a priority, why would you know the difference? It also went to clothing and footwear wholesaling and retailing, clothing manufacturing, and the jewellery wholesaling and retailing sectors. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think someone working at the local sports store would be classed as an artist.

Those opposite crow about their RISE funding and how great it was for the arts. We heard the member for Barker say that. It was certainly good for William Rose—listeners might actually know him as Axl Rose—because Paul Fletcher provided $1.35 million across two grants for a Guns N' Roses tour. I'm more of a 'Spring Rain' rather than a 'November Rain' sort of guy. But, with Guns N' Roses' back catalogue, they surely didn't require the assistance of Australian taxpayers, especially when many local artists didn't have extensive and lucrative career earnings to fall back on while their local gigs were being cancelled and their incomes disappeared. It's that famous Leppington Triangle style of judgement on show yet again.

The coalition's funding program had no vision, no strategy and no long-term impacts for the arts industry. It's almost as if they're ashamed of Australian stories and Australian storytellers. That's the difference between Labor and the Liberals and Nationals. Compare the arts legacies of Whitlam, Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard to the forelock tuggers opposite—to their knights and dames and false nationalism and divisive culture wars. Because they don't know who they are or what they believe in, all they do is attack Labor's hopeful vision for this nation.

Labor, under Tony Burke, is passionate about the arts. Labor wants to assist the sector and leave a proud national legacy. Only last week, right in this building, the Minister for the Arts spoke of his support for our local TV and film industry. I also note that Thelma Plum, who went to Yeronga State High School in my electorate, wanted him to introduce her at every gig after his stellar effort when she was here to promote the ARIAs. What a difference that is to the apathetic approach the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments had to the arts. Labor is currently working on delivering the National Cultural Policy to change the trajectory of this sector after this decade of neglect.

The lack of cultural policy over the past 10 years has contributed to damage, neglect and policy drift in the sector, leaving it even more vulnerable to the cuts of the coalition. The National Cultural Policy will be a broad and comprehensive roadmap for Australia's arts and culture, touching on all areas of government from cultural diplomacy in foreign affairs through to health and education.

I know that Minister Burke and the Special Envoy for the Arts, Susan Templeman, attended town hall meetings and received more than 1,300 submissions as part of the consultation process. Some of Australia's finest artistic and creative minds have been a part of this process. They've helped guide the development of the Cultural Policy, and have identified key themes and issues raised in submissions. That is what good governments do: they talk to stakeholders; they listen to what people are saying and they work with people to deliver outcomes. Australia needs a coherent, industry-led and supported policy to guide and support the arts sector for today and into the future.

The previous government scrapped Creative Australia and replaced it with nothing, reduced funding of around $11 million to the Australia Council and created a task force to advise on an arts policy when they didn't even have an arts policy. Unlike the coalition, Labor support our arts sectors and I'm excited to see what comes from our National Cultural Policy when it is launched.

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