Turnbull’s destruction of the arts
It would be a reasonable thing to say that voters, especially people in the arts and those concerned about the Australia Council, were relieved to see Tony Abbott booted out of the prime ministership to be replaced by Malcolm Turnbull.
It would also be a reasonable thing to say that arts people thought that things would be better for the arts in Australia with Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister. I didn’t, but was in the minority.
As it turned out, unfortunately I was right, and things have carried on being terrible for many in the art arena that depends on Federal Government support. I would have much enjoyed it if I had been wrong and the arts funding that Tony Abbott and George Brandis had removed had been reinstated.
There is very good coverage of this topic in an article in Artlink by Joanna Mendelssohn. She covers some of the history of funding and points out that many conservative governments in the past have supported the arts and have been positive about funding the arts through the Australia Council. Not so the present lot! Including Malcolm Turnbull.
The arts in Australia have been ‘Turnbulled”!
Here’s the article in Artlink – click here.