Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Wills, I know how important the arts are to my community and of course, more broadly, to society in general. Wills, in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, has a magnificent arts community. That's why it's so pleasing that the Albanese Labor government has finally been able to start designing and implementing a national cultural policy that will correct, reshape and make such a difference to the arts community. Implementing this policy will change so much of the arts community's treatment and the way that they have been neglected over the past decade.

A lot of people sometimes talk about the arts in economic terms. You hear that more people go to the National Gallery of Victoria than the MCG, and that's all well and good. There is certainly a commercial part of the arts that is important, but not all arts are commercially viable. That's just a fact. But that doesn't diminish the importance of those artists and their work, especially to society. In my view, the arts are such an integral part of who we are: our identity as a people, our society, our civilisation. The arts are really the heart and soul of any society, and so it is important to support the arts. Sometimes, if they're not commercially viable, artists and their artwork can be that heart and soul of a society as well. The Labor government has really valued and elevated the contribution of the creative industries to the social, cultural and economic life of this country. That contribution sometimes is intangible and can't be measured in economic terms, but it is so significant to who we are as a people.

Our artists, therefore, are too important to be ignored and neglected as they have been over the previous decade. It was really fantastic to have the Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, visit my electorate a few weeks back and engage with local artists, the creative people who work in the creative arts, to discuss the national cultural policy. We had an event at The Moldy Fig, which is a jazz club in my electorate, in East Brunswick, run by a mother-daughter duo, Dorelle and Vivian, and they were wonderful hosts at that event. You can actually get some New Orleans, Louisiana cuisine there as well—jambalaya and so on. So we had a bit of jazz. We had a really good discussion around national cultural policy, all of the ins and outs of how the policy is going to be implemented and what it means for local artists. We had a local band called Hey Gringo, who were fantastic.

The arts are important to me and important to my community, clearly. The suburb of Brunswick in my electorate has one of the highest concentrations of artists in Australia. It is a thriving arts sector and it is the heart and soul of our community. As I said, the arts cannot be measured in traditional economic terms. These metrics are really intangible in some respects but it's pretty clear the social benefits are invaluable. The arts do matter. What we saw over the past decade of the former Liberal government was a consistent slashing of funding for the arts. As I said, we on this side have always elevated and valued the contribution of creative industries to Australian life, and to our social, economic and cultural life. Way back when, former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam established the Arts Council and outlined his vision for the arts. The arts community in Wills and the arts communities right across Australia continue to deserve support from governments, in my view.

The Albanese government's national cultural policy, Revive, is part of a new era of that type of support for the arts. It sets up and supports our arts, entertainment and cultural sector for the next five years. Because of that neglect the arts community had faced for far too long, this is such a significant step for the creative arts for them to start to get certainty around their work, certainty of Australian content. I will come to quotas for Australian content and how important Australian content is later. The policy will provide greater opportunities for talented artists who are up-and-coming as well, who might not be as commercially viable, by allowing an atmosphere where arts can thrive and grow, and where organisations can grow and fulfil their vision.

It's really important we support the community and continue to reach new audiences and tell those Australian stories, something close to my heart. I worked at SBS as executive director for corporate affairs and strategy for almost four years. One of the things that came through my time in the media at SBS was the importance of telling Australian stories, particularly multicultural stories, diverse stories of who we are. Seeing yourself, seeing your diversity reflected on the screen is such a powerful, powerful experience, because it tells you that you belong.

One of the aspects of the arts that is so important to me is this sense of belonging that it actually enriches. Telling our stories is so important. There is great content from around the world. We enjoy watching some Nordic drama here or there or some American television. There is some great content, some French films. I love all of that, but it's important we also tell our stories, because that tells us who we are. Australian children's content is so important because they see their experiences reflected back to them. This is such an important part of the national cultural policy. Of course, First Nations people and First Nations artists and stories are so important. When NITV—the National Indigenous Television Network—first started, it came on board with SBS. NITV has had award-winning Indigenous content for children. That is such a powerful experience for Indigenous kids to have that positive experience of Indigenous stories their stories told on screen, as well as for all Australians to share in that cultural heritage. We are so lucky to experience those multicultural stories, those First Nations stories, here in Australia, and this is a very important part, a central part, of this national cultural policy—the importance of telling those stories and reflecting the diversity in our community.

I talked about how some of the economic metrics are not as tangible in this industry, but the fact is there are clear metrics that this is a $17 billion industry. It employs 400,000 Australians. The Labor government's national cultural policy will provide funding over four years, including to establish Creative Australia. This Creative Australia Bill 2023 provides legislation to establish Creative Australia as a modern organisation that will carry this policy forward. It includes the establishment of Music Australia and Creative Workplaces. It will ensure our arts and entertainment are strongly supported through what is now a federal entity. The bill delivers specific elements of Revive, the government's cultural policy, which I've touched on.

On this bill the government has received 1,200 submissions from the sector as well as from consultations with over 800 individuals and organisations and 14 town halls across the country on the national cultural policy. It's going to do many great things for the sector.

Music Australia will support the industry to grow, will involve strategic initiatives, industry partnerships, research and training, and skills and development. Creative Workplaces will work with artists and employers to raise and maintain safety standards for all arts forms and for relevant matters to authorities, because those who work in the creative arts are important and they have been neglected for too long. That certainty in their work and feeling safe in their workplaces is just as important for any Australian in the workplace.

We'll set minimum standards and rates of pay for the sector, because people should not get away with being underpaid as artists. That has happened. You've got the classic cliche of the poor artist living in a shed doing their artwork, the genius artist—that's not good enough. That is a cliche, a stereotype. Artists and those who work in creative arts should be getting the pay that they deserve like any other Australian in any other sector.

We also need to ensure that our great talent is acknowledged, recognised and fairly remunerated. That's an important principle. There are new councils being set up to guide the work of all of this.

There will be an Australian Council board, which provides advice around the sorts of services and programs that should be delivered with the new funding. This bill demonstrates the government's commitment to the arts sector in ensuring it supports all of the artists and arts organisations across the country.

The arts and those who work in the creative arts have suffered for a long time. They've been really neglected, passed over, and the importance of what their contribution is to our society has not been acknowledged, in a sense. That has been shameful. There has been nothing really in place for a period of time to support the rich art and cultural basis of Australian creative arts in this country. That is no longer. It is wonderful to be part of a government that pays such attention, commitment and passion to the arts, because the arts are so important to who we are.

During the pandemic, musicians and artists provided us with the relief we needed in those hard times. They supported us during a difficult time. They were neglected. They weren't recognised as workers, and they couldn't benefit from the wage subsidies as they were intentionally excluded as artists and artworkers. That's a substantive point that I make about the neglect. They provided such an important part of our lives and a contribution to society, yet they were deliberately excluded from the wage subsidies that flowed through during that very difficult time. Because they contributed such a richness to this country, I think there's been a lack of respect for far too long and it's important for us to rectify that. This is what this policy and this bill is also about. We're committed to changing this. We're committed to backing artists.

Obviously Labor has a fine tradition in this space. The last two cultural policies were delivered under Labor governments, Creative Nation under Paul Keating and Creative Australia under Julia Gillard. While the arts sector is essential from an economic perspective—it is a $17 billion industry and 400,000 Australians are employed—the sector is important from the culture and wellbeing perspective, from that perspective of being the heart and soul of our society and in many respects being part of identifying and telling the stories about who we are and why we are. The arts allow us to experience the world around us through a different lens, different perspectives and to provide us with a better understanding of the experiences of others as well. It is also very important for our mental health and wellbeing, and it helps preserve our culture. What is culture if it's not the stories we tell and the traditions we have?

Revival will ensure the arts sector can be treated with the respect that it deserves, because this government knows how important the arts are to our communities. Under Revive, our new national cultural policy, there will be a place for every story and a story for every place. This country needs to acknowledge that artists are creators and workers, and that's what we're doing as a government. Artists' working conditions need to reflect this. Their pay needs to reflect this. The way we support them needs to reflect this. This government is truly committed to bringing back respect, acknowledgement and real substantive support for our artists and for the arts sector. This bill will ensure that our artists and the arts sector are supported in a way that recognises the rich contributions artists make to our country and to our culture.

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