What Prime Minister Turnbull means for the arts

We examine Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's form on the arts as arts leaders launch a campaign to persuade the new PM to rethink the Budget cuts to Australia Council and Minister Brandis' National Program for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA).
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Photo by Tim Bauer via www.malcolmturnbull.com.au

Latest: A protest calling for the repeal of the NPEA and for Brandis to be stripped of his Arts portfolio will be held outside the Prime Minister’s electoral office at 2pm today, Wednesday 16 September. Full details here.

Last night’s Liberal Party leadership spill, which saw Tony Abbott ousted as Prime Minister and replaced by the Member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull, may yet have significant ramifications for the arts sector.

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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