Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I likewise believe that this report of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts is an extremely important report. I think many important issues are discussed in the report—far too many for me to touch on now, so I will touch on some of the critical ones. It is obvious that this is a critical industry for Aboriginal Australians. It provides one of their few opportunities for economic development. Aboriginal arts play a central role in cultural maintenance and are also a window into Aboriginal culture for other Australians—and, for that matter, for the world, because the international market is growing. The industry has huge economic, cultural and social benefits for the community. I believe it is of particular importance in addressing social and health issues.

Arts centres are clearly essential infrastructure in many communities, particularly rural and remote communities. There are a great variety of arts centres. There is no one label that you can have for what arts centres should be; their roles vary widely. They are not just arts centres. They play a multitude of roles, including those in the social, cultural and economic development of communities. They face many great challenges, which are outlined in the report, such as staffing issues, governance and infrastructure support. Some centres are able to provide greater economic benefits to communities than others and have much more independence. They are of great value to the community and, with a relatively small investment, they can play an even greater role.

I am pleased that the No. 1 recommendation in the report very strongly recommends increased funding. I strongly urge the government to take that on board. The other issues that came to light are that urban Indigenous artists are often ignored and that there is a massive role for education and training and a huge need for increased funding and resources in that regard.

Although the report was unanimous, there are two areas in particular on which I think government and non-government senators had some varying views. I will come back to those in a minute. I would particularly like to point out recommendation 11, because the changes to CDEP were identified through the report as being of critical importance to arts centres. Recommendation 11 states:

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth pursue the conversion of CDEP-funded positions in art centres into properly funded jobs, taking an approach similar to the 2007-08 Budget initiatives in other portfolio areas; and that this initiative be independent of future NACIS program funding.

This is particularly important, because, for arts centres in regional areas where CDEP is being phased out, there are many staffing positions that are supported through CDEP. This is having a critical impact on those arts centres and on communities. In fact, there was an article in the media today about the impact of the winding back of CDEP in Broome. I visited an arts centre in Broome, where I heard firsthand about the impact that rolling back CDEP is having on people in that centre and the impact it will have on that centre. So I am very pleased that we have got a recommendation that looks at covering the conversion of CDEP funded positions in arts centres. I think that is extremely important.

The other area in particular that I would like to touch on is the permit system. You will see in the report that the non-government senators believe that the evidence presented to the committee was overwhelmingly in favour of retaining the permit system. Several witnesses wrote and spoke in favour of the permit system, and none spoke against it. No dealers or collectors argued for the relaxation of the permit system. The permit system was one area that was brought up in a number of communities. They brought it up particularly in relation to what are commonly called ‘carpetbaggers’ in the trade. A number of witnesses thought that the retention of the permit system was important to be able to control carpetbaggers coming into the community and what they saw as ripping off artists.

What became evident during the inquiry was that there is some unscrupulous activity going on in this sector and artists are under a great deal of pressure. I very strongly support the recommendation around the Alice Springs arts centre, because I believe that that is a way of helping to protect artists. There are a number of recommendations that address these issues and I think they are very important recommendations.

The other area where there is some difference of opinion is on resale royalties. We differ from some of the government senators on that issue. The other recommendation that I would like to point out to people—because I think it is particularly important—is recommendation 24:

The committee recommends that as a matter of priority the government introduce revised legislation on Indigenous communal moral rights.

That issue is very important and came up a number of times.

I congratulate the secretariat and thank them for all their support. This is a very important report and I hope the government takes on board these recommendations very quickly and does not wait as long to respond to it as has been its record on a number of other committee reports. In view of the time, I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted.