Upcoming Budget to include $535.3m on museums, art galleries

The federal budget will feature hundreds of millions spent on our national treasures after multiple institutions fell into a funding scandal.

Australia’s most prestigious national cultural institutions will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in funding after making headlines for falling into disrepair.

In the upcoming budget the government will invest $535.3 million towards nine National Collecting Institutions over four years.

These institutions include the National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, National Archives, National Film and Sound Archives, Old Parliament House and other cultural and historic institutions.

The nine institutions contain an estimated 54 million objects which are worth more than $9 billion, including paintings such as Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles, worth more than $500 million.

The National Gallery contains an estimated $6.7 billion worth of art, including its most well known piece, Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles. Picture: AAP / Lukas Coch

‘This is yet another example of my government having to clean up the mess left behind by the former coalition government,’ the Prime Minister said. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

The National Gallery had been staring down the barrel of staffing cuts and temporary closures, which included limiting opening hours to five days a week.

The institutions are facing issues with ageing infrastructure, with buckets having to be placed under leaks in the National Gallery during heavy rain and the National Library still needing to repair its heritage copper roof which was damaged in a hailstorm.

Parts of the National Gallery are currently closed while “critical building upgrades are underway”.

The funding announced on Monday night aims to ensure repairs and safety improvements can be made now and into the future.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australians should be able to visit these institutions “for generations to come”.

“These are special places and we should be proud of them. They preserve, protect and celebrate Australia’s stories and history,” he said.

“My government is committed to preserving, protecting and celebrating them.”

The institutions also contain important information, art and artefacts about First Nations Australians. Picture: AAP Image / Lukas Coch / NO ARCHIVING

Arts Minister Tony Burke said the funding would get the institutions “back to where they should be”.

“This funding means people will be able to go to places like the National Gallery of Australia and enjoy the exhibits without worrying about the physical integrity of the building that’s housing them,” he said.

Mr Albanese and Mr Burke joined in blaming the former coalition government for the issues plaguing the cultural establishments, describing it as “chronic underfunding”.

“It is a disgrace that the former coalition government allowed these institutions to fall into such a shocking state of disrepair,” Mr Burke said.

Arts Minister Tony Burke said the funding would get the institutions ‘back to where they should be’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The coalition allocated $1.067 billion to the arts from 2013-2022, which was the “highest level of Commonwealth arts funding in history”, according to acting opposition arts Minister Sarah Henderson, who defended the former government’s arts funding in January.

That figure covers funding to the entire arts sector and includes support through the Covid-19 pandemic, not just to the cultural institutions.

Originally published as Upcoming Budget to include $535.3m on museums, art galleries