STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, HON. E. G. WHITLAM,
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON ZI
MAY, 1973, IN PRESENTING THE INTERIM REPORT OF THE
AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS
Mr. Speaker, For the information of Honourable Members, I present the
interim report which I have received from the Australian Council
for the Arts. I ask leave of the House to make a brief statement on this
matter. Sir, in my Policy Speech I indicated that a Labor Party
Government would provide substantially increased support for the
arts. This support would relate to a two-fold objective the
pursuit of excellence and the spread of participation in the arts.
We also proposed to extend the range and effectiveness of that
support by setting up a new and independent Council based on a
series of specialist Boards dealing with different art forms.
When my Government took office, action was taken immediately
to give effect to these policies. At the same time it was important
to honour commitments already entered into by the previous Government
so that there would be no interruption to work already in progress
and planned. Furthermore, it was necessary to get responsible
estimates for the increased activities envisaged and to prepare
legislation for the new Council structure. I therefore decided to
appoint the new Council ( and its constituent Boards) to undertake
these tasks. On 26th January a Council of 24 was appointed, including the
Chairmen of the constituent Boards and others capable of providing
special knowledge of the arts and of the needs of the community
in this field. On 16th February, after receiving advice from the
Chairmen based on consultations in their respective fields,
-2-
I appointed the members of Boards dealing with Theatre, Music,
Visual Arts, Crafts, Literature, and Film and Television. The
Aboriginal Arts Board was appointed later.
I asked the Council to see that existing support for
the arts was not disrupted; to prepare for me a charter for the
new organization and an outline of its operations which would serve
as a basis for legislation; and to let me have urgently budgetary
estimates for the coming year.
These initial arrangements were very flexible. Appointments
to the Council and Boards were for terms of no more than one
or two years to allow for change and development ard to ensure that
the membership could quickly be adapted to any changes in the
structure which might arise from the report of the Council.
The Boards have met a number of times. Some, in defining
the scope of their work, have already proposbd to move into new areas,
to plan further ahead, arid to tackle long-standing issues of importance
to Australian artists such as the Public Lending Right
and copyright. Proposals to extend public enjoyment of and participation
in the arts, to raise the status of artists in the
community and to explore means of opening doorways to the arts for
young people have also received prompt attention.
The Council has now put together this preliminary report
outlining how, in its view, it and the Boards might operate. The
report is based upon the broad objectives of Government policy and
defines the purposes of the Council and its powers and responsibilities
as a statutory corporation. In accordance with the
Government's policies, it provides that the powers of the Council
should be used in ways which will " respect, uphold and promote
the rights of artists to untrammelled freedom in the practice of
their arts". In defining the structure of the Council and Boards
and their inter-related procedures, the report aims to ensure
that artists and others active in the arts are predominant in the
proposed membership, while ensuring adequate consideration of the
interests of the public generally.
The report is not final. The Council has asked me to
authorise its release along with notes on some of the main areas
of differing opinion to organizations and persons interested.
I have told the Council that I am happy to invite organizations
and persons with a special interest in the arts freely to express
their views on the proposals.
Mr Speaker, I welcome the opportunity which this preliminary
report presents to reaffirm the importance which my
Government attaches to the arts. The legislation which will follow
the Council's final report will be designed n'ot merely to improve
the material conditions of those engaged in them and to widen the
range of those who participate but to guarantee to the arts the
independence without which they cannot flourish. Around the world
there are great writers whose works never see the light of day in
their own countries, painters obliged to bend their talents to
political dictation, creative talent. crippled by censorship and
control. The legislation will, we hope, be seen as a charter to
safeguard the integrity of our artists and their works.
-4-
I hope, therefore, that honourable members, as individuals
and as members of appropriate committees of this Parliament, will
study this interim report that we mayhave the benefit of their
wisdom as well as that of all those Australians who value the
arts and see in them, as does my Government, a means to the
enrichment of life for all Australians. Nlt,