Fed Govt Slammed For Delays To Arts COVID Funding: 'Minister Still Has Not Approved Them'

Shadow Minister For The Arts Tony Burke has condemned the actions of Arts Minister Paul Fletcher today, following a substantial delay to emergency arts sector funding. 

In late June, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the $250 million JobMaker plan, which is set to "help restart the creative economy and get the entertainment, arts and screen sectors back to work" in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement released this morning, Burke has stated the program's roll-out has been delayed as its guidelines are yet to be approved by Fletcher "more than six weeks after the Morrison Government announced it’s much-delayed arts package".

"Stephen Arnott from the Office of the Arts has confirmed his team has submitted the draft guidelines for the grants and loans programs to Minister Fletcher – but the Minister still has not approved them," read the statement. 

"While the sector is desperately waiting for help the guidelines are sitting on the minister’s desk just waiting for his signature. Under Labor questioning at the COVID-19 committee, Mr Arnott also said that once the Minister does approve the guidelines it will take another eight to 12 weeks until money finally starts flowing.

"That means that even if Minister Fletcher approves these guidelines first thing on Monday morning – and he should – it could take until November before anyone gets any money. That is eight months after this crisis began and this entire sector was almost completely shut down."

See the full statement from Burke below. 

The support package was described by Morrison at its launch as "a range of new grant and loan programs will roll out over the next 12 months to different parts of the arts sector to support the $112 billion creative economy and the more than 600,000 Australians it employs" and is set to include $75 million in competitive grant funding in 2020-21, $90 million in concessional loans to assist creative economy businesses to fund new productions and events that stimulate job creation and economic activity, $35 million to provide direct financial assistance to support significant Commonwealth-funded arts and culture organisations facing threats to their viability due to COVID-19 and more. 

UPDATE - 12.04pm

Minister Fletcher's office has since responded to the statement, with a spokesperson telling The Music that "The Minister received the grant guidelines yesterday (Thursday 6 August) and intends to assess them promptly with the expectation that they will be publicly released in coming days".

"The package is primarily focused on restarting the arts once it is safe to do so, and complements the whole of government measures that have been flowing to the sector, including around $100 million per month through JobKeeper and cashflow support, and $27 million in targeted support announced in April."

Statement from Tony Burke

The struggling arts and entertainment sector could be forced to wait until November for emergency funding to start flowing after revelations Arts Minister Paul Fletcher is sitting on draft guidelines for grants and loans.

More than six weeks after the Morrison Government announced it’s much-delayed arts package on June 25, not a single dollar of support has yet gone to those who desperately need it.

And now we know why.

Stephen Arnott from the Office of the Arts has confirmed his team has submitted the draft guidelines for the grants and loans programs to Minister Fletcher – but the Minister still has not approved them.

While the sector is desperately waiting for help the guidelines are sitting on the minister’s desk just waiting for his signature.

Under Labor questioning at the COVID-19 committee, Mr Arnott also said that once the Minister does approve the guidelines it will take another eight to 12 weeks until money finally starts flowing.

That means that even if Minister Fletcher approves these guidelines first thing on Monday morning – and he should – it could take until November before anyone gets any money. That is eight months after this crisis began and this entire sector was almost completely shut down.

The Government was dragged kicking and screaming into announcing a package for the arts after stubbornly insisting - for more than 100 days - that there was no need for it. And now six weeks after they supposedly saw sense, artists and entertainers still have no idea whether they will even be eligible to apply for help.

This is typical of this Government: the delivery never matches the announcement, the reality never matches the promise.

Australia’s arts and entertainment sector workers deserve better than this. They are the makers, keepers and producers of Australian stories, and they have helped us to get through this crisis.

The situation has become even more dire with the second lockdown in Victoria – which is hitting Victorian creators hard but also having knock-on effects for the arts community across the country.

It took more than 100 days for the Morrison government to finally act on the desperate calls from the sector for help. How many more days will they have to wait to get the support they were promised?