Parties questioned on Arts policies

Fairfax newspapers today carry an article on 10 questions on the Arts and Entertainment put to Labor, Liberal and Greens parties.

On every one of the 10 questions the Coalition “declined to comment.”

Question 1: How will you support the Australian film and television production sector?
Australian Greens response:
“To attract films to Australia, we have to lift the location tax offset from 16.5 per cent to an internationally competitive rate of 30 per cent. This means for every dollar invested on Australian cast, crew, goods and services, the film-makers receive 30 cents back.

“Similarly, we want to raise the producer tax-offset from 20 to 40 per cent which will rebalance the risk that prevents a lot of Australian stories with great potential ever getting on to our screens. These policies will cost $80 million a year.”

Australian Labor Party response:
“Since the introduction of the Australian Screen Production incentive more than $600 million has been delivered to the screen sector through offsets. Federal Labor announced a $56 million restructure and funding boost over four years from 2011–12, to further support the sector, particularly low-budget and documentary makers. These incentives, as well as the $93 million funding for Screen Australia, will continue. As part of Federal Labor’s $235 million national cultural policy, Creative Australia, a new $20 million Location Incentive was created to increase Australia’s competitiveness as a world-class filming destination.”

Coalition response:
Declined to comment.

Question 2: what will you do to safeguard and promote Australian film and (free-to-air) television content?
Australian Greens’ response:
“To create and sustain local jobs and tell our stories – especially regional content – the Greens want to double the requirement of how much Australian content TV channels must to put to air. This would lift Australian content from around 11 per cent of total broadcast hours to almost a quarter of all television. This would provide a cultural safety net from cheap shows bought from places like the UK or the US which cost broadcasters a quarter of the price.”

Australian Labor Party response:
“Federal Labor’s commitment to fund increased drama production at the ABC is being continued. Since Labor allocated funding in 2009/10 more than 212 hours of first run Australian drama and narrative comedy has been broadcast on the ABC. Labor has also provided $15.2 million a year to fund National Indigenous Television (NITV).”

Coalition response:
Declined to comment.

You can read the other 8 questions here

Of course the current Opposition arts spokesman is Senator George Brandis. He is not contesting the election as his Senate term runs until June 2017. If the Coalition is elected, he will seek to become Arts Minister and Attorney-General. He has previously put forward amendments, not passed, that would have given the arts minister authority to override the Australia Council board. He believes says the government and the responsible arts minister should be the “final arbiter” of arts policy because they represent the taxpayers who pay for it.

Any future government, he says, must tackle copyright law and its application in the broadband age.

Brandis says he does not agree with suggestions that copyright be relaxed. “In that debate, I am on the side of the artists, I am on the side of the copyright owners and content providers,” he told The Australian. “The law needs to be altered so that from a technical and law-enforcement point of view, it keeps pace with technology.”

Copyright law is under review by the Australian Law Reform Commission, due to release its findings in November.

ALP Minister for the Arts

Greens: Creating Film and Television jobs