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 12:00

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 OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts