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

Before I begin this discussion of the Australia Council Amendment (Creative Australia) Bill 2023, I'd like to wish happy International Women's Day to all—particularly to my wife Lea who is 1,300 kilometres away, having just taken one son to school and another one to uni and, no doubt, cooking, cleaning and doing everything else that she does, as well as holding down a job. So happy International Women's Day, Lea!

Now to the matter at hand. A new chapter in the Australia's cultural story began recently when Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Burke launched the nation's new cultural policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place. Revive is the comprehensive road map that the arts and cultural communities have been asking for, after close to a decade of wandering around the LNP's featureless desert. Culturally, the nation has just experienced a lost decade under the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments. Compared to the coalition's efforts over the last decade, I saw more culture in my son Leo's lunchbox that he left in his school bag over the Christmas holidays. There was plenty of action under Ministers Brandis, Fifield and Fletcher, but the deeds were either cruel cuts or deliberate neglect.

I will never forget, nor will I forgive, the Morrison government for almost completely cutting out the arts during the pandemic, when every theatre was closed down. They had to be embarrassed, eventually, into doing something. At the time, everyone understood the need for the cancellation was for health reasons, leading to the closure of almost an entire industry reliant on bums on seats through indoor music halls and galleries to large music and cultural festivals and all those artistic endeavours. But for the Morrison government to simply abandon an entire industry in possibly its greatest hour of need was shameful. Perhaps, it was all because the Prime Minister of the day didn't want to be seen hanging around with the sort of people that he used tread the boards with back when he was an eager child actor. His deliberate, cruel and shameful act ignored the fact that our artists are both creators and workers. Our storytellers do a job. The arts sector is an essential part of our both culture and economy and Labor understands this.

Art and culture touches and impacts all areas of government, from cultural diplomacy and foreign affairs, right through to health and education. The arts are so important to our nation, and Revive will set the arts sector on a new trajectory with fresh momentum. This bill is an important component that will be a part of forging that vision and facilitating an upward trajectory. It will give effect to elements of Revive that are required to be in place by July 2023, one of which includes Creative Australia becoming the new business name for the Australia Council.

Since 1975, the Australia Council has been the principal Commonwealth arts investment and advisory body with a strong, proud history and profile in the arts sector. It supports and promotes creative arts practice that is recognised nationally and, more importantly, I would suggest, internationally. It provides research and advocacy on issues affecting the sector. Its funding and independence was severely compromised under Ministers Brandis, Fifield and Fletcher. The days of such myopic, petty interference are behind us, thankfully.

A restored and modernised Australia Council, known as Creative Australia, will have that strength and capacity. It will provide for greater strategic oversight and engagement right across the sector and ensure that funding decisions continue to be made on the basis of artistic merit, and not at the whim of the government of the day. Who wants colour coded spreadsheets completed by ministers—against advice—when it comes to important arts funding decisions? Maybe there's a Victorian senator with a clay target shooting club that might be in need of a bit of arts funding, but that won't be the way of the future.

The implementation of the Australia Council reforms under the national cultural policy will be staged to allow for necessary consultation right across the sector, and, as mentioned earlier, some of these are required to be implemented by 1 July. Additional functions in this bill will enable the Australia Council to commence work on the Centre for Arts and Entertainment Workplaces and Music Australia. This centre will work with artists, industry workers and employers to raise and maintain safety standards for all art forms and ensure that matters are referred to relevant authorities when appropriate. The centre will also provide advice on issues of pay, welfare and the development of codes of conduct and resources for the sector. It's no secret that the arts sector has a poor track record when it comes to working conditions. A report from 2021 noted that 45 per cent of Australia's arts and cultural workers were in casual or insecure roles, with all the housing and family problems that come with that. The gender pay gap in the arts is nine per cent wider than in other sectors of the economy. Sadly, the music industry continues to make headlines for widespread bullying and sexual harassment. Meanwhile, the sector is struggling to attract and retain workforce talent. It's clear that things need to change, and the Centre for Arts and Entertainment Workplaces will be at the heart of that much-needed change.

The second aspect of the policy will see Music Australia support the Australian music industry to grow, including through strategic initiatives, industry partnerships, research, training and skills development, and export promotion, which is something I think we need to do more and more of in our part of the world. Australia has such a rich history of producing some of the best music in the world. I can think of The Easybeats, The Saints, AC/DC, INXS, Paul Kelly, Powderfinger, Divinyls, Silverchair, Hilltop Hoods, The Go-Betweens, Nick Cave, Midnight Oil and—my special favourite—The Triffids, and that's just to name a few. On reflection, this list of bands and musicians might reflect my age and maybe the parliamentary band's song list! Also, what about Gang of Youths, Baker Boy and Thelma Plum, for people born this century? The Albanese government wants to foster new, up-and-coming artists to make their mark not just here on our shores but right across the world. What a message it would be to take to Asia to have someone like Thelma Plum, a First Nations artist, engaging with the Pacific and Asia. A follow-up bill will be introduced later this year to establish these critical bodies, and ongoing consultation with the sector will inform the subsequent legislation.

The bill will provide authority for the Australia Council to deliver the functions of Creative Partnerships Australia. This will include the attraction and recognition of public and private sector support for the arts, and the undertaking of research on public and private investment in the arts. This increased access to private-sector funding will maximise the impact of public investment and support a sustainable arts sector. The transfer of Creative Partnerships Australia's functions will leverage the Australia Council's ongoing expertise and bring together arts philanthropy and arts funding within the one entity. It will create synergies between public and private partnerships, as well as between government and philanthropic investment.

The bill allows the Australia Council to assume responsibility for the Australian Cultural Fund from 1 July this year, including all donations made into the fund prior to the transfer. The Australian Cultural Fund is an important mechanism utilised by Creative Partnerships Australia to deliver on its objectives to grow the Australian culture of giving to arts by bringing together donors, businesses, artists and arts organisations. Through this legislation, the Australia Council will assume responsibility for assisting Australian artists and arts organisations to attract and maintain support from donors and businesses; diversifying their sources of revenue; and encouraging and celebrating innovation and excellence in giving to, and partnerships with, the arts and cultural sector—great goals.

Under the bill, Creative Partnerships Australia Ltd will cease to exist and will be taken to be deregistered under the Corporations Act at the transition time. The bill also includes transitional elements to support a smooth transfer of functions, and the bill seeks to modernise provisions of the act relating to constitutional limitations. The Albanese government is committed to improving the quality of Commonwealth investment in the arts sector and to strengthening and streamlining access to support, including for artists and arts organisations. A properly resourced Australia Council is key to delivering on this commitment. The transfer of the functions of and funding for Creative Partnerships Australia to the Australia Council will align with this objective.

Timely passage of this bill will allow these initiatives to commence from 1 July, for the broader benefit of the artists and arts organisations. It will ensure continuity of business between Creative Partnerships Australia and the Australia Council. These transitional elements cover the transfer of assets, liabilities, records and staff entitlements—all crucial. It will ensure that, at the time of transfer, employees of Creative Partnerships Australia will be taken to be Australia Council employees and receive equivalent accrued entitlements and benefits.

Lastly, we'll also establish independent bodies and funds for First Nations arts and culture, for contemporary music and for writers. We have over 65,000 years of stories and 65,000 years of culture to promote, support and fund. This nation is home to the world's oldest living continuous culture, some of the world's oldest artworks, the world's oldest songs and stories. There is nowhere else in the world where you can tap into this knowledge, experience and culture to produce traditional art and music, and what a message it is to take to the rest of the world. We also have the opportunity to create some of the best contemporary art and music from First Nations people that needs to be not only celebrated but, importantly, supported. This nation definitely believes in a place for every story and a story for every place.

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