ALP goes ballistic about the arts in Parliament, signals trouble for the government

The new regulations which strip advantages from the tax rebate system will have to go to Parliament, and the ALP is keen for a fight.

Tony Burke, Shadow Minister for the Arts and Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives, caught the Morrison government in a sneaky move yesterday and launched an impassioned defence of the Arts community in Australia.  He started with 

‘What sort of government attacks workers in the middle of a pandemic? Because what’s in front of us now is nothing more than an attack on people who work in creative industries. Let’s not gloss it over. This is not like what we were dealing with when we were arguing they needed to redesign JobKeeper to make sure people who were actors and creatives got access to it. This is not negligence on the government’s part. What’s in front of us right now is a direct attack to halve the contribution to Australian drama from Foxtel. That’s what’s in front of us.’

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David Tiley was the Editor of Screenhub from 2005 until he became Content Lead for Film in 2021 with a special interest in policy. He is a writer in screen media with a long career in educational programs, documentary, and government funding, with a side order in script editing. He values curiosity, humour and objectivity in support of Australian visions and the art of storytelling.