The Labor agenda for arts policy

With a Labor Government looking increasingly likely after the 2016 Federal election, Arts spokesman Mark Dreyfus is re-examining the ALP's arts policy.
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Image David April via fineartamerica

It’s one of the enduring mysteries of Australia’s cultural debate that we don’t hear more about the cluster of industries and businesses that are variouly called ‘arts’, ‘culture’ and ‘entertainment.’

On any analysis, that’s rather strange. In terms of sheer numbers, these industries are a large and growing part of the economy. In 2011, for instance, they employed more than 310,000 cultural workers. At the time, that was a larger workforce than the booming mining industry, considered so central to Australia’s economic well-being.

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Ben Eltham
About the Author
Ben Eltham is ArtsHub's industry columnist.