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Dr Marilyn Waring, Associate Professor of the School of Social Policy at Massey University Albany Campus, chaired a well attended Arts Debate at the PumpHouse Theatre in Takapuna on Monday 30th July. Held in conjunction with the North Shore Winter Arts Festival ArtFormz the event was co-ordinated by regional arts support organisation arts advocates auckland.
Marilyn Waring spoke of the impact for the arts of the Review of the Local Government Act, currently under way. She indicated there is a move towards focusing on outcomes rather than outputs in both central and local government (a more qualitative measurement of the affects of policies.) This means local decision making will focus on cultural wellbeing both present and future.
Silo Theatre and New Theatre Initiative Chairman Andrew Caisley stressed the importance of using appropriate statistics in submissions for funding, to underline the economic importance of the arts sector. 5% of all full time jobs are in the cultural industries (51 thousand) a higher percentage than the forestry industry and growing faster than the rest of the economy. New Zealand earns $300 million per annum in export earnings from the cultural industries, with total GDP from the cultural sector around $2.2 billion. (The GST take on that is around $250 million.) Andrew suggested that next time anyone suggested the arts were 'bludgers' a few simple statistics were all that would be required!
Support for arts and cultural initiatives, by local authorities around New Zealand, is vital to the sector, amounting to around $260 million per annum (significantly more than the $23 million available from Creative New Zealand, which is made up of $20 million from the Lottery Grants Board and $3 million from central government funds.)
Arts Regional Trust Chair Hinemoa Elder spoke on the recent formation of the Trust (and regional arts funding initiatives which are aiming to assist the wider arts infrastructure of the region.) The Trust is aiming to act as a unifying focus, with strategies and criteria currently being finalised, endeavouring to fill a gap in the arts funding structure of the Auckland region by addressing areas not always covered by existing funding schemes.
Bridget Marsh, Head of the School of Performing and Screen Arts at UNITEC, outlined some of the issues for the arts in education. There is a need for the arts to be an integral part of both primary and secondary school teaching, to build an awareness and appreciation of the arts at the earliest level and this teaching needs to be resourced appropriately.
Auckland Theatre Company Director Simon Prast no stranger to the media reported on the perceived bias in the reviewing of the performing arts. He maintained that any reviewer had a "duty of care" to the audience, to ensure balanced information was presented by reviewers who had appropriate knowledge of their subject matter.
The needs of arts practitioners were addressed by the past President of the New Zealand Society of Authors, Joan Rosier-Jones. She expressed her feelings that the creative process for writers and artists is what makes life worth living. Unfortunately there are many obstacles to overcome and sacrifices to be made by arts practitioners in order to produce the artistic heritage we have and must continue to create.
The final speaker was Geoff Clews, Chairman of the Bruce Mason Centre Board of Management and a Tax Lawyer. He outlined the possibility of the Review of the Tax Act impacting on charitable status. This could have a huge impact on arts organisations and the not for profit sector. A firm definition of "charity" and an indication of who would make final decisions on tax exemption needed clarification.
The evening concluded with questions from the floor. |
