Despite Minister Kemp’s feeble attempts to talk up the Howard Government’s contribution to the Art and Sport sectors he has done very little to address the real issues faced on the ground by the thousands of professionals, volunteers and participants in Arts and Sport.
For 8 long years the Howard Government has failed to address the serious issues facing the Arts and Sports Sectors. Instead of offering some glimmer of hope or vision for Australia’s cultural and sporting futures, the 2004 Budget will be remembered for its failure to announce any new initiatives or inject any significant funding.
The Howard Government has;
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Not provided any significant increase to funding in 2004 for any section of the cultural sector. |
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Cut nearly $8 million from our National Cultural Institutions in 2003 and with it 31 jobs. |
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Sat by and watched community-based dance organisations suffering in a pattern of under funding |
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Done nothing to address the decline Australian feature film production which has plunged by one-third in 2002-03 down to just 19 feature films produced from 31 in 2001-2002 |
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Taken no steps to address Artists welfare when one third of Australian artists are living in poverty, with 50% of them earning a mere $7,300 a year from their profession |
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Taken 7 years to increase funding to Playing Australia Program funding despite desperate pleas from the major performing arts centres and Regional Arts Australia, which has resulted in fewer opportunities for artists to take their works to regional, rural and remote Australia |
In sport the picture is just as bleak.
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The Howard Government’s own budget papers reveal that federal funding for Sport and Recreation has been slashed from $206 million in 2003-04 to $169 million in 2004-05. |
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While Minister Kemp has tried to hoodwink Australians into believing that sport has received a funding boost courtesy of a $273 million investment in the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, the truth is that sport and recreation has actually suffered a $37 million funding cut. |
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None of the money committed to M2006 will go towards providing direct assistance for athletes who will compete in Melbourne in 2006, in fact virtually none of this money will go to sport at all. |
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The so called $273 million investment in the Commonwealth Games will go to the Department of Defence, Attorney-Generals Department, the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Transport and Regional Services, the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, and ASIO; everywhere it would seem but to sport. |
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Even the $55.3m so called ASC funding from all areas for the 16 sports on the Games program is set to be spent on AIS operations rather than athletes. |
The only thing that the 2004 Budget has proven is the Howard Government’s blatant contempt for the valuable contribution Arts and Sport make to our cultural and social fabric.
Contact: Adina Cirson – (02) 6277 3334 or 0418 488 295
