The Coalition has demonstrated its lack of interest in helping a job-rich industry hit hard by Covid-19.

By Leyland Reid, the communications and advocacy manager at the National Association for the Visual Arts.

” On Tuesday evening the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, promised “jobs, jobs and jobs” and signalled a new fiscal strategy – one that for the first time was not focused on budget surplus. The arts sector dared to imagine this could mean increased support targeted at the hardest-hit, job-rich sectors with the most spare capacity…

The creative industries were ignored altogether in Frydenberg’s budget speech. Increases to the funding of national cultural institutions, where they have been granted, are so small as to be entirely meaningless once adjusted for inflation…

The $250m committed this year – none of which has been spent – will do little to rebuild the arts sector, which is already weakened by exclusions from existing income support measures, cuts to local content quotas for Australian TV, and the increase of arts and humanities degree fees.”

Source: The Guardian