The Hon Rod Kemp was Minister for the Arts and Sport from Friday 23 November 2001 to Tuesday 30 January 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.
STRENGTHENING AUSTRALIAN ARTS
The Coalition is committed to an environment in which the arts and culture can thrive, where artists and art organisations can achieve excellence, and which all Australians can enjoy.
To build on the Coalition's achievements to date, the Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, today announced the Coalition's arts and culture policy.
The major new initiatives announced include:
- providing $6 million over the forward estimates to continue the Books Alive initiative, to further promote the intrinsic value of books, reading and literacy, and Australian writers;
- providing $5 million over 4 years to support annual 'noise' youth arts festivals and contribute to global 'noise' festivals in 2005 and 2007;
- providing $2.5 million to extend the Young and Emerging Artists initiative to 2008;
- providing an additional $500 000 per annum from 2005-06 to Festivals Australia, which will support a performing artist or company to spend up to one month in a regional community developing a performance piece relevant to that community. This measure further reflects the Coalition's commitment to the arts in regional Australia, and complements the recent additional funding for Playing Australia and the Regional Arts Fund; and
- providing an additional $200 000 per annum to expand the Community Heritage Grants scheme to include workshops and for the National Museum to help regional museums to curate their collections.
The Coalition has also strengthened its commitment to the national cultural institutions.
"The Coalition will provide $56.5 million for the construction of a dedicated building for the National Portrait Gallery", Senator Kemp said.
"The Coalition is committed to the National Portrait Gallery, which has grown to house a significant collection of portraits of prominent Australians. This permanent display at Old Parliament House chronicles the lives of Australians who have shaped the nation's past and who engage us in the present.
"The new dedicated home will enable the National Portrait Gallery to develop as a gallery, and will become yet another focus for tourism within the Parliamentary triangle. This initiative demonstrates the Coalition's commitment to our national capital, and to our national cultural institutions."
To further strengthen our national cultural institutions, the Coalition will provide the National Museum of Australia (NMA) with an additional $13.7 million over five years.
"Much has been achieved at the NMA since it opened in March 2001-it is a great place to visit and learn about Australia. The Coalition made the NMA a reality, and this additional funding will help the NMA on its journey to becoming one of the first-rate museums in the world", Senator Kemp said.
The Carroll Review into the NMA's exhibitions and public programs highlighted its strengths especially in telling the stories of ordinary life in Australia and the history of indigenous peoples.
"The Review found that in order for the NMA to fulfil its potential it needed to begin some changes in direction. With this funding the National Museum will implement key recommendations from the Review", Senator Kemp said.
The NMA will be provided with funds to redevelop the Horizons gallery as the Australian Journeys gallery during 2006-07 and the Nation gallery as the Creating a Country gallery during 2007-08 to ensure that primary themes of Australian history are addressed.
"The NMA will receive, as part of the $13.7 million, an indexed $1 million per annum to build an outstanding national collection", Senator Kemp said.
These new initiatives, together with the film package, will provide an additional $172.7 million to the sector. These funding initiatives build on the Coalition's considerable achievements in the arts and its record level of funding for the sector, which will amount to over $520 million in 2004-05.
CANBERRA
4 October 2004
Media contact: Adrian Chippindale, 02 6277 7350 or 0407 208 743