As the Sydney Morning Herald noted, “artists and arts sector representatives who tuned into the live stream said they felt recognised and respected for the first time in a long time. Some said it had brought them to tears”.
If anything, that reinforced the needy stereotype.
The very concept of government initiating and planning cultural reform stands in contradiction to what art has traditionally represented. As for Labor’s “five-year plan” for the industry, that terminology is a touch bombastic, not to mention disconcertingly Gosplan-esque.
Still, Anthony Albanese looked relaxed and comfortable as he launched his policy at a star-studded function at The Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne. Far more relaxed and comfortable than his recent belated appearance in the troubled town of Alice Springs, it must be said. Perhaps thinking he was still opposition leader, he could not resist telling his audience they had been treated with “calculated neglect” by Coalition governments, saying “You have endured a decade in which opportunity wasn’t so much missed as thrown away”.
Not surprisingly, he began his address with a plug. “I would ask the arts community to join with me … by joining the campaign for yes to reconciliation, yes to constitutional recognition, and yes to a voice to our parliament,” he said. Now that is something cash-strapped artists would do well to remember when they apply for a share of the $286m largesse. It is yet another reminder of Albanese’s farcical insistence that his government is not funding a ‘yes’ campaign in this referendum.
As announced at the launch, the nation will soon have its first poet laureate. As literary editor Caroline Overington reported in this masthead, poet Sarah Holland-Batt, a frontrunner for the position, has suggested a stipend of $100,000 a year. A hundred grand? My hat, as they say, is in the ring. Enjoy.
In Alice Springs, it’s fair to say
They know a lawless place
With vicious crimes and killings
And locals off their face
Up there they cry ‘Who’ll help us!’
‘Is there not a single man?’
To them I say ‘Don’t worry’
Because Albo has a plan
He’ll change the constitution
And then we’ll have the voice
The case for this is obvious
Australians all rejoice
If you have any questions
On the voice and what to know
Ask Albo’s alter ego
His name’s Marcel Marceau
In the capital, the Treasurer
Is known as Dr Chalmers
He’s a man of thought and vision
Cue ‘republic’ and ‘bananas’
He wants mass intervention
And increased regulation
Swanny’s young apprentice
Has big plans for the nation
Jim’s mindful of the workers
Because to them he can relate
Hence he’s penned a turgid essay
And can he pontificate
Dissing laissez-faire and neo-libs
And business, just you wait
Big tax and transformation
Think ‘provider’, think the state
Somewhere across the gulf of space
There’s a rock called Planet Bowen
On there resides a man named Chris
And his drivel’s fast and flowin’
His obsession is renewables
Regardless of the money
Only God knows who advised him
Was it the Energiser Bunny?
He promised cheaper power bills
But they’re going north, not south
It’s a problem that’s compounded
By the ministerial mouth
‘Putin’s war’, ‘Liberal neglect’
‘I’m not to blame’ he’ll blather
He’s the Clouseau of the Cabinet
And he’s in a fine old lather
All hail this great rebirthing
And the cleansing of the slate
It’s just what the masses needed
A far-left potentate
That’s Albo and his merry men
On whom we must rely
Abbreviation sums them up
Namely ‘N’ and ‘F’ and ‘I’.
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At the risk of being labelled a heartless philistine, I believe there is a fine line between giving taxpayer money to worthy emerging artists and rewarding mediocrity, self-indulgence, and entitlement. The sector’s reaction to the launch this week of the federal government’s so-called National Cultural Policy ‘Revive’ did nothing to dispel that perception.