TEL: 15. Oct 95 0: 30 No. 005 P
L PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
SPEECH AT THE SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY FUN DRAISER, SYDNEY
14 OCTOBER 1995
E& OE PROOF COPY
Thank you very much indeed. What you can do with a tram shed. It just shows you what a little imagination and flair can do, and to Rachel [ Ward] and Anne [ Schofield], and alt the people in the arts and costume and the decorative departments of the company, and all those other people who put their backs into this it's got a wonderful ambience, and a wonderful feel.And if the Foundation goes anything like as well as this night has gone, it's going to be a great success.
A few electric candelabra, a bit of smoke, an elephant, Andrew Denton, and there you are one explosive mixture. It's very nice to be associated with the -Sydney Theatre Company, and to be asked to speak at this the launch of the Foundation. Because it is not an old Company 18 years is not so old,
but it's had such an impact upon the life of this country, and theatre, and I
think that we should count our blessings that we have developed a Company
such as this, and needs things to support it. Now, there is a rumour going
around at the moment that it's pretty scratchy, the arts at the moment pretty
scratchy. And there's a bit of a debate going around that there's too much
public money in It. But, there should be State sponsorship of the arts, and I'm
determined for one to maintain it. It takes a long time to develop an artistic
inheritance it takes a long time to develop an arts culture. But, we all know
all of us in this room that the arts define any nation, and the arts more than
anything else have defined Australia. All the politicians think they defined
Australia, but I think most of them defined it after the artists defined it first.
And that's why our playwrights, and the ones that have been associated with
this Company, like David Williamson, and Louis Nowra and Nick Enright, and
Karen Mainwaring people such as that, are the people who chronicle the life
of this country put it down in the most interesting ways, tell it to us and show
it to us in a way we might not otherwise understand, and burn it into our
consciousness. These are the things that theatre can do.
And we need to continue what has happened, and what has occurred to us at this time, and this is the point of the Foundation to try and bring some
private money to the arts. Other than that, it comes from the Government.
rhis year, I think the Commonwealth provided about $ 1 million to the
Company, and I think the State of NSW about the same, and the rest of it
comes, of course, commercially. But, this is about opening up the pockets of
those that have got more than they need, and who can drop and sprinkle
some of their funds and money around in the places where it will do a lot of
good. And if a show like this doesn't get some money out of them, well
nothing else will.
Of course, the people who have most of the money never come to things like this. You know, if we could get Kerry or Rupert here, and spend a bit of
money on the theatre instead of just the football we got those heart-starters out of Kerry of course, when he took a bit of a jolt years ago. And he's a
kinder fella than that he's done a lot of other things the rest of us don't know
about, but there's more he could do, and the same goes for Rupert. Now, the thing about the big-hitters is that they are always giving money to charities
and you say to them what charities? " Well, you know, charities" [ they reply].
Which charities? " Charities". It's always done with such feeling such
commitment. But if they just decided what they could do by taking an interest
in organisations, like some of you are taking in this Company a personal
interest in the way it runs, who manages it, its commerciality, its problems, its
artistic development all of the things that we know make a business like this
work a Company like this work, then they could be so powerful. Now,
maybe there's a cheque in the mail I don't know. But, most of them have
still got their play lunch money most of them, not all of them, but most of
them. But, there's a lot of money around these days I mean, Labor
Governments are good for employment, they're good for battlers, but they are
also good for the wealthy. When I became Treasurer all of those years ago,
the All Ordinaries Index was 453, and today it is 2150 there's a lot of money
in between, and we only want a little bit of it here just a little bit, just a
trickle. But I don't know why it is that we have so many scrooges in Australia, and we
can never get any philanthropic interest from them in supporting the arts.
Now, it's always left to Governments, and Governments do their best, and we
have bodies that help us we have now got a thing called a Major
Organisations Board, and I know you are pleased that the Sydney Theatre
Company is one of the star turns with the Major Organisations Board. And,
we have got the Australia Council, and Michael Lynch is here tonight
because he has had great association with this company, and Hillary McPhee
battling away to get the right money in the right places for the arts. And it's
hard going. But this is where the bulk of it comes from we still need that
State sponsorship of the arts, but we need not just the money privately, but
the interest that comes with it, and getting people interested. I always think
that once you have had an emotional connection with the arts, you can never
leave it off, because it makes very clear what your future with it will be, A lot
of people have never had an emotional connection with the arts, they have
never had the thump to the chest, and they think it is something just up in the ether. They don't realise that it is something that actually feeds the soul, liftsI
your consciousness, defines the country and does all those things they think
it is something, some superficial thing.
At any rate, this is a valiant attempt to get a private Foundation together, to put money back into development of young people, artists, actors, people who design the sets all of the things that a company like this needs to bring young people along, and to encourage them, and to see the Company grow
with even stronger roots and foundations than it has today. That's the eoint
of the Foundation to try and get that sort of commitment from private'O
sponsorship. Now, the Americans have done it so well for so long, and I don't
quite know why it works in America but not here maybe simply because
there is more money around. But there's a lot of money around here now,
and what we have got to do is get people to make the commitment. At anyS
rate, I would like to congratulate Rachel [ Ward] and Anne [ Schofield] for
obviously the huge effort that has gone into this to make a statement. To
make a statement about the arts, and to make the effort to make it count.
Can I say for the Governments part, we have tried to keep that strong
sponsorship of the arts in Creative Nation we have now got nearly $ 100
million of those funds expended this year, we have developed this multimedia
corporation, because we think multi-media will be a strong outlet for
the arts, just as film was all those years ago. And, of course, we are still
supporting through the Major Organisations Board, the major Companies,
and of course the film industry. Now, there has been some controversy about
Rupert and the Showground, but we have only ever had one film that's made
the big box-office earnings, and that is Crocodile Dundee, although, of
course, we have had many great films produced in this countrA And I think it
is a good thing that we can get Fox, and get that belief internationally in
Australian films, films made here, and Bob Carr and I have committed
ourselves to getting that business up and running, and I don't think we will
have any problems, either, with Rupert Murdoch I think he is very committed
to it. He sees a good thing to be done here, and I hope you feel that too.
Because when we develop the film industry further, we are developing the
whole profession further because so many people move between the stage and film.
So, could I conclude my remarks again by thanking you very much for the invitation you have done me proud in asking me. It's a great.. . the ambience tonight was fantastic when I walked in, there was a lot of smoke and dust about, and it had all of the feel of a medieval place I thought I could have
brought John Howard along and he would have got a few progressive Ideas.
I think he's just moving out of the 14th Century Into the 15th now. But, I think
he's not quite on this wavelength. Anyway, it's been a lovely night and a
great show I loved the Celtic dancers: a bit like the Tap Dogs. The last
show I saw at the Sydney Theatre Company was the Tap Dogs, and they
have done so well internationally, too so there you are, they started here.
All the way from Newcastle to Sydney, and after Sydney, the world. So,
thanks very much for having me along I wish the Foundation well, I will do
what I can to support it, Burrows and Ted will keep me up to the mark if we slip back. But it is about private sponsorship, and I think it is a chance to lift that awareness of people the consciousness of people that more can be done for the arts, and if they have got some loose change to play with, they could put it into something good because as we all know, giving money away is a lot harder than making it. It takes a bit of style to give money away, and what we will do tonight is try and develop a bit of style for those people who haven't had to this point a lot of it. Thank you.
ends.