INVESTING IN THE ARTS A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 1
We re ready. Over the last four years, we ve been working hard developing our vision for the future of South Australia. Not just policies, but a series of achievable milestones that have been crafted for the long-term benefit of our state. Our focus will be MORE JOBS. LOWER COSTS. BETTER SERVICES. We ve got a strong plan for real change. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 2
WHAT WE LL DO A Marshall Liberal Government will invest in the arts and our artists to ensure that South Australia s creative industries thrive. We will build on the positive aspects that exist, but we will end the ad hoc approach to the arts that has typified sixteen years of Labor administration. We will: Transform part of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site into Australia s National Aboriginal Art and Culture Gallery a major institution of world significance; Develop and implement South Australia s first Arts Plan in almost 20 years, including ensuring that South Australia s creative industries can thrive around the year, improving funding arrangements for performing arts companies, helping them diversify income streams, and delivering a strong digital access plan for our irreplaceable cultural collections; Leverage Adelaide s position as a UNESCO City of Music to gain the best possible outcomes for South Australia as a state where performers from around the world want to perform for our audiences, and where local musicians are able to successfully develop their craft; Re-establish the role of State Historian; Increase grants for artists leading to sustainable careers; Boost major events funding to attract more significant cultural events to South Australia; Establish a Commissioner for Cultural Development to lead a whole-of-government approach to improving connections and collaborations between the community and the arts sector. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 3
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL ART AND CULTURE GALLERY From generation to generation, Aboriginal people have passed on their knowledge, their art, their languages, songs and ceremonies. Their cultures and civilisation begin the story of our nation, yet Australia does not have a national institution, of status befitting the task, dedicated to preserving, recognising and celebrating that rich cultural heritage, and the living and continuing cultures today. The preservation and revitalisation of Aboriginal art and culture is essential to the ongoing health, social, economic and emotional well-being of our First People. A Marshall Liberal Government will involve Aboriginal leaders in planning and implementation of this project. We will work with the South Australian Museum to ensure the project assists in providing the storage and engagement spaces needed to both protect their world s-best collection of Australian Aboriginal cultural artefacts, and ensure that, through programs such as the Museum s Family History Unit, it is accessible to Aboriginal people to engage with into the future. A range of our other cultural institutions will be invited to play a key role in ensuring that the National Aboriginal Gallery is able to leverage all that our diverse sector has to offer in helping make this institution a leading destination for cultural tourists from around Australia and the world, as well as a source of pride and inspiration for all South Australians Aboriginal and non-aboriginal alike. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 4
ARTS PLAN The last time South Australia had a genuine Arts Plan was under the Ministry of Diana Laidlaw, in the term of the last South Australian Liberal government. We will develop a new Arts Plan that will ensure that Arts funding in South Australia is not driven by bureaucratic government control and compliance but instead by performance, artistic expression, collaboration and enterprise. Peer insight will trump Ministerial taste. Our Arts Plan will address a range of important issues and initiatives including: Ensuring that the cultural and creative sectors in South Australia thrive throughout the year; Reviewing grant programs, to ensure that existing funds and increased grant allocations are focused on supporting companies and artists and a successful and sustainable ecosystem for creative industries, rather than government bureaucracy and perks; Considering what more we can do to meet the needs of regional and rural South Australia, local cultural activity in regional towns and centres, career pathways for artists from the regions, and access to regional touring opportunities for large and small companies; Developing and delivering on a state-wide Digital Access Plan for our irreplaceable cultural collections building on the work of those institutions that are already engaged in this work and helping to ensure that these collections are therefore accessible to all South Australians and the world. Digital platforms provide a window to the world for South Australia s unique cultural heritage and we must take advantage of this opportunity to showcase ourselves. Ensuring the Festival Centre s newly redeveloped venues, including Her Majesty s Theatre, enable it to take collaboration with our major performing arts companies to a new level; Examining arts governance and encouraging more resourcefulness, tasking our arts boards to have a stronger focus on diversifying funding sources, but at the same time looking to provide rolling triennial funding to arts organisations to improve their opportunities for long term planning; Ensuring that through a whole-of-government approach, benefits of the Arts Plan are able to be realised across the range of sectors where the community interacts with government; The Arts Plan will also explore and take into account opportunities for new partnerships and collaborations, including: Developing a strong governance model for the new National Aboriginal Art and Culture Gallery, fostering positive collaboration between all of the relevant institutions and artists whose collections will contribute towards the new institution; Encouraging a stronger relationship between the South Australian Museum and the Botanic Gardens of South Australia two great collecting institutions that are also places of science, research and learning; and Facilitating engagement between Arts other government functions, particularly Tourism, Multicultural Affairs, Communities and Education, along with other levels of Government and also the corporate and philanthropic sectors. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 5
ADELAIDE A UNESCO CITY OF MUSIC SOUTH AUSTRALIA A STATE FOR MUSIC A Marshall Liberal Government will leverage Adelaide s position as a UNESCO City of Music to gain the best possible outcomes for Adelaide as a city where performers from around the world want to perform for our audiences, and where local Adelaide musicians are able to successfully develop their craft. We will work in partnership with our institutions, including the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and the private and philanthropic sector, to identify potential opportunities to deliver the purposebuilt Concert Hall that has been sought for so long. The current government has missed several key opportunities to help progress this possible development in recent years. We will maintain funding levels that support a diverse range of existing programs, festivals and live music opportunities. South Australia s next generation of creative talent will also be supported in the development of their craft. This isn t limited to music, but in this particular field for example, there are a range of organisations doing outstanding work in and in connection with schools and universities that we will continue to support and, where possible, enhance that support. STATE HISTORIAN A Marshall Liberal Government will work with the History Trust to re-establish the role of State Historian and examine the creation of an Adelaide Museum of South Australia s History a missing link in our museum story-telling. After 16 years of stagnant funding under Labor, we will double funding for local history grants to support historical research and locally operated museums that are the backbone of community identity in so many areas. Our digital access plan will ensure that the benefits of this increased support for local places and pride are projected to the world through better digital storytelling. GRANTS FOR ARTISTS LEADING TO SUSTAINABLE CAREERS A Marshall Liberal Government will provide a $1 million per annum increase in grant funding to support new artists and leverage matching new corporate and philanthropic and local government support for new investment in the arts. The direction of grants funding will be developed in conjunction with the new Arts Plan, but will be focused on the outcome of supporting a more sustainable eco-system for artists living and working in South Australia. We are particularly concerned that there be development opportunities for early-career independent artists building their practice to reach the point of economic viability including providing opportunities to develop business sustainability skills. We recognise that strong peer-assessment practices are important to maintaining sector confidence in grants programs. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 6
MAJOR EVENTS FUNDING A Marshall Liberal Government will increase funding for the attraction of major events to $40 million over four years from 2018/19. This will enable South Australia to secure more lucrative events, including in the artistic and creative sectors, to increase tourism, create jobs and drive economic growth. This will include expansion of the mandate of the Australian Convention Bureau to increase its capacity to attract more conventions. A number of creative sector conventions have taken place in South Australia and we would like to see more. COMMISSIONER FOR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT We will establish the position of Commissioner for Cultural Development to ensure more effective collaboration between Arts SA and the community, local government and other government agencies and report regularly through an annual report to the Parliament on the outcomes and ongoing development of our Arts Plan. This position will ensure that the arts are once again an important agent of influence and impact in South Australia, facilitating engagement with other government functions, particularly Tourism, Multicultural Affairs, Communities and Education, along with other levels of government and the corporate and philanthropic sectors. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 7
WHY WE RE DOING IT South Australia has been the beneficiary over many years from outstanding institutions, remarkable creative leaders and artists, and a community that appreciates the arts and supports it in great numbers. Our Festivals are the envy of the world, and the accomplishments of so many of our artists are nothing short of outstanding. Some of the collections in our institutions, and the way they are presented, are world leading. We also benefit from a flourishing non-government sector, rich in energy and philanthropic endeavour. Where there are positive activities supported by government, we will continue to provide support and help them to flourish. But we believe that South Australia s artistic and cultural sector can be even stronger. Through the arts, we show the world who we are. The arts will always fare well under the Liberals in South Australia. It was under former Liberal South Australian Governments that: The Adelaide Festival of Arts was established; The decision was made to build the Adelaide Festival Centre on the bank of the River Torrens with funding allocated by the State Government; The History Trust of South Australia was created in the early 1980s; Major expansions and improvements were made to the Art Gallery of South Australia, the State Library, and the Museum front-of-house in the 1990s and early 2000s; The Windmill Performing Arts, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Ideas and the South Australian Living Artists Festival were established. The Liberal Party believes in celebrating the unique culture of South Australia, we believe in supporting local community cultural organisations, and we believe in supporting our world-class institutions, festivals and artists. A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 8
STEVEN MARSHALL MP State Liberal Leader www.strongplan.com.au Phone: 08 8363 9111 Email: steven@stevenmarshall.com.au A STRONG PLAN FOR REAL CHANGE 9