Page 4106 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 26 November 2014
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(c) during the Standing Committee on Education, Training and Youth Affairs annual report hearings on art, the Minister was not able to list the policy goals and outcomes achieved as a consequence of her framework; and
(2) calls on the Minister to list all policy goals and outcomes achieved as a result of the ACT Arts Policy Framework to be tabled by the last sitting day in February 2015.
These days, the arts in this territory—I know you know this, Mr Assistant Speaker Bourke, because you are a big supporter of the arts—go beyond the simple “art for art’s sake” argument that we have had for so many years on the funding of arts. It goes beyond that because the arts are a key driver in the new economy, particularly the idea of the creative economy. That derives from an emerging concept. I want to quote from The Economics of Cultural Policy by Australian David Throsby. It is a fantastic read; perhaps the minister should get a copy. It says:
It derives from the emerging concept of the “creative economy”—the idea that a creative sector can be identified within the larger macro-economy which is a particular source of economic dynamism in the new information age. The idea has its origins in the proposition that creativity, whether in art, science, technology or commerce, is a key factor in generating economic success both for individual businesses and for whole economies. Creativity, it is argued, is a prerequisite for innovation, and innovation is the driver of technological change, which in turn boosts economic growth.
From the introduction, it goes on to say:
… a logical sequence can be established, beginning with art and proceeding through artistic creativity, creativity in general, innovation, technological process, competitive advantage, and leading in due course to growth in incomes, exports, employment and other indicators of economic success …
The author goes on to conclude this:
… in many developed countries the cultural industries can indeed be shown to have grown faster than other sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture over the past decade or so when measured in terms of value of output or levels of employment …
That is what we need to be talking about in this city today—the path that we will steer for ourselves and what we will base it on. In large part, it will be based on the arts and it will be based on the creativity that, as a natural consequence, comes from the arts.
When you have policy through which to ensure this, there is a policy process. In his book, in chapter 3, entitled “The policy process”, Mr Throsby says that the sequence of stages can be summarised as six steps. First, there is “specification of objectives of policy agendas, strategies or measures”. Perhaps the government have done that in their arts policy framework. It means “allocation of responsibilities”. Then comes “policy coordination”, followed by “choice of the policy instrument or instruments best fitted to achieve the desired outcomes”. Then comes “implementation of policy measures”. Finally, there is “monitoring and evaluation of the effects of policy action, and feedback to inform future policy development”.
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