Labor boosts funding in new arts policy

One month out from the federal election the ALP have launched a new arts policy which promises to undo the damage of the Abbott-Turnbull Government.

4 Jun 2016

Richard Watts

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Writing and Publishing

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten; photo by CPSU/CSA via Flickr

The Australian Labor Party has promised an extra $80 million over four years for the Australia Council and $60 million for local drama on the ABC, as part of a new arts policy to be launched today.

Regional arts, live music and arts education are also prioritised in the policy, Labor’s first arts policy since the launch of the short-lived National Cultural Policy – Creative Australia in 2013.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts