'In 2006 I wrote one of the early Platform Papers (No. 7) under the title Does Australia Need a Cultural Policy? I was prompted to ask this question because it was then twelve years since the appearance of Australia’s first (and only) cultural policy, the document Creative Nation: Commonwealth Cultural Policy (October 1994) produced by the Keating Government. In the interim, following the Labor Party’s defeat at the 1996 election, we experienced ten years of John Howard’s prime ministership. Howard led a conservative administration that effectively buried Creative Nation when it came into office and subsequently showed no interest in formulating a cultural policy of its own.' (Publication summary)
'Governments at all levels allocate around $6 billion a year to arts and culture in Australia, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. While this is a low figure compared to the budget outlays of other wealthy nations, public support for arts funding here is, if anything, in decline.' (Introduction)
'Governments at all levels allocate around $6 billion a year to arts and culture in Australia, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. While this is a low figure compared to the budget outlays of other wealthy nations, public support for arts funding here is, if anything, in decline.' (Introduction)