Enough is enough, someone needs to protect Australian Arts
Anika Bhatia
It was on Christmas Eve last year that I got the much-anticipated phone call — I was cast to play Billy in the feisty new Australian play, Rattling the Keys by Adelaide writer, Zoe Muller. Excitement rushed through me at the prospect of my first profit share production and the opportunity to perform in the Newtown venue, the Old 505, where I had witnessed some stellar performances of actors I admire. It felt unreal.
Fast forward a week from now, to the 28th of April 2020, the intended opening night of our production, part of the independent theatre company Theatre Travels’ annual No : Intermission festival. However, like many other shows, festivals, gigs and events during the COVID-19 pandemic, the show couldn’t go on. Fortunately, Rattling the Keys has been postponed to a later unknown date and venue, while many independent and mainstage productions met a different fate. Major events like the annual Vivid Sydney, Sydney Writers’ Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival have been forced to cancel.
Similarly, the University of Sydney has seen many shows, revues and society events cancelled. All of the identity revues which take place at the beginning of the year including the Wom*n’s, Queer, International and People of Colour (POC) Revues, have been scrapped. It is unknown whether the Semester 2 productions will be able to take place. The same uncertainty is also felt within the Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS), which usually puts on a dozen shows in different ‘slots’ throughout the year. One show I was particularly looking forward to seeing — and which many of my friends were set to star in — was Kill Climate Deniers. However, its season was cut short with the hope of delaying their remaining week until Semester 2, amongst SUDS’ many other postponed shows.
As with many sectors of the economy, COVID-19 has decimated the arts and culture industry. However, despite many industries gaining media attention and government support, the Arts have once again been abandoned.
The Arts have been the victim of funding cuts for years and years, worldwide-crisis-induced cuts aside. The Coalition has failed to sufficiently support the Arts, with funding being reduced by almost 20% since Labor left office in 2013. As of last December, the Department of Communications and the Arts was scrapped and tossed into the new Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. ‘Arts’ is no longer even in the title, a decision emblematic of the government’s attitude towards it.
The irony in all of this, is that the government itself has stated that arts and culture contribute $111.7 billion to the Australian economy.
Yet currently, a majority of Australian creatives are not eligible for the JobSeeker allowance and JobKeeper benefit scheme due to their casual and project-based arrangements as freelance contractors or their employers’ complex cash flows. On 8th April, a number of amendments to include casuals (of under 12 months) and freelancers in the wage subsidy, as well as a support package for the arts and entertainment sector, were voted down.
Effectively, there seems to be a subsidy for every sector except the Arts. For anyone who engages with the arts, this is not only heartbreaking, it is unfair. The government’s disdain for the Arts has outraged many and has sparked the #NoWorkerLeftBehind and #CreateAustraliasFuture movement across social media, where professionals in the Australian theatre, film, television and Arts industry post a photo of themselves in their job and tag Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
As a media student and emerging actor, who knows freelance work is definitely on the cards in my future, I am deeply concerned by our government’s treatment of freelancers and the Arts. I acknowledge that I am by no means a professional artist and that for me, theatre is currently only a part-time hobby I pursue alongside my full-time studies. However, I hope to make a career one day and the prospect of entering a governmentally unsupported and thus unstable Arts industry is troubling to say the least. Consequently, I cannot help but empathise with my peers, colleagues and the collective plight of the arts community during these trying times.
The Arts are important at the best of times, but it is undeniable that the Arts are crucial in times of crisis, as our quarantine-laden days have poignantly revealed. Whether it be books, music, video games or Netflix, the Arts have always been there for us. They are a comfort, an inspiration, and a window into humanity’s past, present and future. It’s about time we move to protect the Arts and give the industry and its workers the respect they deserve. Freelancers and contract workers aren’t asking for special considerations to be made — they are asking to be treated like every other profession and looked at as what they are: hard working Australians.
In case you are missing theatre like me, head to this link for some streamed theatre productions: https://www.audreyjournal.com.au/arts/theatre-on-demand-all-you-can-eat/?fbclid=IwAR2-CwTD-5Zk1CBDRBWZ1FtOIaERWdpYXvsmDYCv2Y9d0n8aJ9xmtaUlZks