Senate committee to investigate arts funding cuts

The Federal Government’s controversial changes to arts funding in its recent Budget will be investigated by a Senate Committee.

The motion was moved by Labor’s Jacinta Perth International Arts Festival | Collins and the Greens’ Scott Ludlam. The vote was 34 to 24 after all four Independents backed it.

The inquiry will cover how the funding changes – in particular, the slashing of $105 million from the Australia Council – will affect the viability of the arts sector.

Arts Minister George Brandis has admitted to a Senate Estimates committee that he did not consult the sector before the changes.

But he said feedback from smaller and medium organisations, especially those from outside Sydney and Melbourne, was that they felt left out of funding decisions.

The inquiry will also look at how Brandis’ alternative funding scheme, the National Program for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA), will operate from within the Arts Ministry. Brandis, who took $27 million from the Australia Council for it, argues it will widen the diversity of grants handed out.

The arts sector has been cynical that it will lead to decisions based on favouritism. Brandis and his staff are to release more details on the NPEA in late June or early July. But associations have been left in the dark in how the funding choices will be made, in particular what input will come from artists and musicians with a knowledge of their respective artforms.

The sector has also been highly vocal about wanting evidence of research behind Brandis’ decisions.

Government Senator Mitch Fifield criticised the call for the inquiry, saying NPEA’s guidelines are still being formulated, and Brandis had already addressed the Senate Estimates committee’s concerns.

The Australia Council’s already slashed some of its initiatives as a result of its reduced budget.

So far the contemporary music’s programs have remained. Yesterday, as reported in TMN, the Council announced $9.1 million of new grants model first round of funding. A substantial amount of music acts (and projects) were given a hand-up. Recipients included The Church, MC Remi, Mia Dyson, Ball Park Music, Ecca Vandal, Charles Jenkins, Little May and Super Critical Mass.

But the axing of ArtsStart to help new graduates kick-start their careers has been a blow to emerging talent. The abandoning of a six-year funding program left music associations unable to plan for the future, especially in enterprises to help new talent or find new markets abroad for them.

Image:Perth International Arts Festival