The arts are finally on Australia’s national agenda. We need the ABC to cover it.
As the government passed landmark legislation for the arts, it was jarring to see the national broadcaster take steps in the other direction.
It’s been a momentous week for the arts in Australia: a nation electrified by creative work across all genres, and a transformative new policy enacted as law.
Melbourne’s Rising festival; Tasmania’s Dark Mofo; Sydney’s Vivid and the Sydney film festival, happening at the same time. The Emerging Writers’ festival and the Williamstown literary festival are also on, each celebrating their 20th anniversaries, and on Tuesday this week – ahead of the annual Australian Performing Arts Market – there was a landmark gathering of First Nations performing arts organisations held in Melbourne, mapping out new futures for Indigenous creative workforce development.
Underlining it all has been the passing of the Creative Australia legislation on Friday, which established two new bodies – Music Australia and Creative Workplaces – to support Australian musicians and artists. In the lead-up, we saw MP after MP rise to speak meaningfully and passionately about the central role that creative culture plays in our lives, and its unquestionable role in powering the economy.
Creative Australia is a central tract of the Albanese government’s national cultural policy – itself a welcome boost to the industry after more than a decade of declining federal support of the arts. Embedded across government portfolios, Revive heralds a new era of creative invigoration.ABC’s quiet revolution behind sackings as viewers switch off TV and tune into TikTok | Weekly BeastRead more
For the first time in a long time, it feels like arts are on the national agenda.
So it’s been quite jarring to see the national broadcaster take steps in the other direction…