Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Next week the Sydney Film Festival will open with the premier of an Australian feature film The New Boy, directed by one of our most celebrated Aboriginal filmmakers, Warwick Thornton, and starring one of our most celebrated actors, Cate Blanchett. The film screens alongside around 30 other Australian features, documentaries and shorts in this festival.

Seeing Australian films like this, shown amongst more than 200 international pictures, brings a sense of pride in Australia's contribution to telling stories that foster understanding, tolerance and belonging worldwide. Indeed, Australia has a rich cultural history, which has long seen us punching above our weight internationally. Our filmmakers, actors, musicians, bands, writers and painters—too many to name—have a reputation for excellence, for storytelling and for capturing the hearts and minds of people in Australia and across the world.

But recent years have been tough. The past decade has seen neglect in funding of the arts, compounded by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The livelihoods of many of our arts and cultural workers were threatened and in some cases suffered irreparable damage. Some of our national institutions were cut dramatically and so couldn't even maintain their current infrastructure. The support provided in the government's cultural policy and partially implemented in the Creative Australia Bill 2023 is therefore imperative to the sector's survival and ultimately to its thriving. It's long overdue, and it's critical that it's passed and then built on.

Research from the Australia Council shows that Australia is a creative nation. Nearly every Australian engages with arts and culture. I see the students up in the gallery, and I'm sure that arts, culture, music and drama are some of their favourite subjects at school. A growing majority acknowledge the positive impact of arts in our lives—on our communities, on our mental health and in our education system. They also acknowledge the myriad small businesses that are part of creating, distributing and supporting the sector, which together mean that our cultural and creative industries contribute more than $112 billion to GDP.

Arts and culture are particularly valued in Wentworth. More than 92 per cent of all adults in Wentworth attend cultural events each year. Many of Australia's creative practitioners live in Wentworth, with more than 10,000 people working in the cultural and creative industries and more than 3,800 cultural businesses in the electorate. And we're blessed to have important creative venues like Bondi Pavilion, the Griffin Theatre, and Sculpture by the Sea, as well as many commercial and independent art galleries. Over the past year, many people in Wentworth have reached out to me regarding the cultural and creative sectors, and I'm delighted that this parliament has been able to deliver some of their many priorities, from restoring funding for Trove to strengthening incentives for film production through the location offset that was passed in the recent budget and is critical to the Disney studios, which are right in the heart of Wentworth and where I recently did a tour—being taken around the studio on a golf buggy—and seeing some of the absolutely world-class institutions that we have in Wentworth for making internationally acclaimed films as well as supporting the wonderful National Institute of Dramatic Arts, which is just outside Wentworth's borders.

We're taking positive steps, but there remains a long way to go. A key priority for people in Wentworth is supporting our independent screen sector and ensuring that we continue to tell Australian stories. A vital measure to achieve this is the introduction of Australian content quotas for streaming services. As more and more content is accessed via streamers like Netflix, Disney and Binge, access to Australian content is at risk. Without a legislative requirement for Australian content, these streamers may simply fill their schedules with cheaper repeats and international reality television. The cultural sector has long argued the importance of Australians being able to see and hear Australian stories, and I'm glad that the government shares this view. In launching its cultural policy the government stated that the arts are at the heart of our national life, and it is through the arts that we build our identity as a nation and a people. I couldn't agree more.

Telling authentic and diverse Australian stories helps us recognise who we are. They help create a sense of community and a sense of respect for our diversity, our history and our unique place. They help us understand each other and feel connected. I therefore welcome the minister's commitment to introducing content quotas for streaming services in the second half of the year. I urge the government to continue to listen to the independent screen sector, to protect Australian intellectual property and to ensure that original Australian stories continue to be seen on our screens.

Beyond screen quotas for streamers, there's still much to do to ensure our arts and cultural sectors flourish. Creativity, innovation, exploration and diversity are part of a dynamic arts sector, and we need this type of thinking to drive the experimentation and out-of-the-box ideas that help create both our sense of national identity and a society that is ready and willing to grasp the opportunities of the future. This parliament is moving in the right direction, and the government is rightly acknowledging both the social and economic importance of the arts, but we must not lose momentum. Reviving this sector is desperately needed.

I look forward to working with the government as it implements other aspects of its national cultural policy, including establishing a First Nations arts board, Writers Australia and the new Arts and Disability Associated Plan; providing greater support for commercial and philanthropic partnerships; and, absolutely critically, ensuring that funding goes directly to the artists, creative people and workers in the arts sector, who are the people we should be supporting through all these initiatives and whose ingenuity and creativity we are seeking to see flourish. I'm especially delighted that the minister has agreed to visit artists in my community of Wentworth later this year.

The national cultural policy rightly recognises the central role of arts and culture in developing a creative, innovative, respectful and successful society. I will work to ensure this government and future governments continue to help the sector thrive.

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