Do we really matter?

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) 's production of Knowing the Score, produced by Cate Blanchett AC features Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra , Simone Young AM. It's an inspiring story.

At 33:22, Young says: "Being a musician is not just a job. Being a musician also defines who we are. Suddenly that was all ripped away. I found it quite devastating...that loss of sense of self...but then you put that into context for people who can't sit next to their mother while they die in a hospital...do we really matter?"

Tough question.

One that was asked by musicians and artists across Australia as they watched their institutions fall into disrepair, as their companies and conservatoria face continuous budget cuts, and their livelihoods become increasingly uncertain as they became cultural gig workers and responded to the devastating impact of the pandemic on family and friends.

The Clean Up

It is not lost on me that leaders were focused on paying down debt prior to the pandemic. Nor am I oblivious to the droughts, fires, floods and pandemic that have had a major impact on spending decisions since 2019.

It doesn't matter where you look, there is important work to be done:

• The Business Council of Australia reveals an investment drought caused by low levels of policy certainty.
• The Productivity Commission reports that Australia is performing poorly in growing its productivity. The commission makes recommendations across the policy spectrum, from education and health through workplace relations and migration to data and technology.
• The Grattan Institute points to unfair tax breaks on superannuation that are excessively generous and should be wound back to help fix the budget.
• Longview and PEXA report that Australia’s current housing crisis is driven by the nation’s unique demographics and a shortage of available residential land near jobs and services, with the impact of interest rates and government homebuyer subsidies often overstated.
• As ACOSS reports, in the?2022 Poverty in Australia Snapshot that there are now 3.3 million people (13.4%) living below the poverty line of 50% of median income, including 761,000 children (16.6%).
• Globally, we're also struggling. The Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity has shown a sharp decline in our rankings from 55th in 1995 to 91st in 2020, the Global Innovation Index also has us going backwards (25th in 2022) and we're 42nd on MIT's Green Future Index 2023.

There are many important calls on the investment of tax dollars.

Tax and Spend

Allegra Spender MP, the member for Wentworth is encouraging a debate on tax and I welcome it. The Australia Institute's Revenue Summit 2022 also introduced some thought-provoking and challenging ideas that merit consideration.

As we reconsider what we tax and how we spend, it is critical that we factor in ongoing Arts funding for the maintenance and improvement of infrastructure, for the operation of companies, to commission new works and to ensure that performers have certainty of basic income to manage their lives.

Artist Ben Quilty's contribution on 730 recently is worth sharing:

"I have great friends who I met in Afghanistan who are really struggling for support in the community and for funding to do the things that mean they can mend and come back into, into civilian life. And yet, we're spending half a billion dollars on a museum in Canberra, which is a really important thing, and it means a lot to me that place of memorialization is crucial but the War Memorial sits across the lake from the National Gallery and there can't be more of a vivid juxtaposition of one museum, expanding to become the world's biggest museum about war and memorialization and across the lake, this museum of art that is literally crumbling. And I think it says a lot about the priorities of our governments and I think they're wrong."

The recent funding announcement of a $535.3 million lifeline for our cultural institutions is welcome as is Revive: Australia's New National Cultural Policy and the $286 million dedicated funding over four years. It's a great start.

Like cyber security (an odd comparison I know but relevant), an investment in the arts is an investment in raising the educational standards, tightening the fabric of society, softening the tone of the conversation by quietening the anger and ultimately, acting as a foil for disinformation. It must be long-term and ongoing. The work of the arts doesn't end because an informed society is less likely to be duped.

Key to the ongoing success of the arts is a new funding model. One that provides the performers, the artists and the companies with longer-term certainty. If we want them to be there when we need them, we need to be there when they need us.

Musicians Matter

This brings me back to the question posed by Simone in Knowing the Score.

"Do we really matter?"

It's important to realise that for many musicians, music chooses them as its instrument.

It is music that chose those in the orchestra, it chose the musicians who went overseas to expand their experience as part of our cultural diaspora, it chose the students at the conservatoria around the country - some of whom began with a tissue box violin under their chin at the age of two and a quarter.

For these people, as Simone said, music is their life, which makes Simone's question both profound and deeply unsettling.

Her question was answered with a resounding 'yes' at the Sydney Opera House when it reopened in 2022, you matter a lot.

A New Chapter

Thankfully, the signals are positive.

The restoration and upgrade of the Sydney Opera House, the rehearsal and performance space of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the upgrades to the State Library of New South Wales have been completed and are awesome.

The recent announcement by the NSW Government for Sydney’s musicians, galleries, museums, restaurants and theatres to be put at the forefront of a new national and global tourism rebrand as it commits to “bringing cultural vibrancy back to NSW” is welcome.

I can see a day when Australian productions attract cultural tourists, booking tickets because they too want to experience the magnificence of our symphony orchestras, especially the one in Sydney that is conducted by a world-class Chief Conductor in a world-class venue.

I can also see a day when Australian musicians abroad, members of our cultural diaspora, are recognised, supported and encouraged to perform in Australian ensembles around the world, giving audiences a taste of what's on offer Down Under.

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