Centre for Policy Development's Blog, page 137

Eva Cox gives her tips for this week's Parliamentary running.

Eva Cox presents a form guide for 42 of legislation set to be tabled in the new Parliament's first week. Of these 42, special consideration is given to 11 key bills:

"Out of 11 interesting items, at least one will go through and many more are likely to; there may be as few as five or six that engage our fearless leaders in any serious debate. That means that on this example, less than 15% of items are likely to be controversial and may be debated."

Will the outcome of this week prove to be a good guide for the rest of this Parliament's performance?

Read the full article on Crikey.com here.

Ben Eltham: Where everyone's a [arts] critic

Ben Eltham reflects on the current state of arts criticism in Australia. He finds that it is headed in the same direction as many other elements of print media – towards the online, the decentralised and the democratic.

"In the new world, armies of bloggers and online critics have diluted that power — but also democratised and decentralised critical culture globally. On the internet, everyone's a critic — or can at least try. As a result, the old verities are being challenged, and print...

Marcus Westbury: What's so special about opera?

What has opera done for you lately?

CPD Fellow Marcus Westbury considers the funding allocation to Opera Australia by the Australia Council, and finds it indicative of the broader funding imbalance and outdated structures of cultural funding in Australia.

"While in the wider world there has been a proliferation of decentralised cultural production within our funding structures, we still assume that culture trickles down from a handful of big companies. It is a dangerous assumption that...

Wild Rivers and Indigenous economic policy

The recent power broking over Canberra's hung parliament saw an unusual focus on Indigenous property rights. Before declaring his support for the Coalition, Independent MP Bob Katter declared Indigenous affairs 'a very burning question for me'. Katter called on Julia Gillard to overturn the Queensland Wild Rivers Act 2005 – which places restrictions on development in particular areas – to support black economic empowerment. During the caretaker period, Noel Pearson lauded Tony Abbott, who...

Ben Eltham: Ferociousness can be a good thing

CPD Fellow Ben Eltham writing in the ABC's The Drum Unleashed argues that a ferocious opposition is good for Australian democracy.

First published 23 September 2010.

"Now that the dust is settling and the new MPs and being inducted into the ways of Parliament (key text: Chumbawamba), we can start to see something of the shape of federal politics for the next three years.

The free love of the interregnum is over, replaced with something much closer to the normal cut and thrust of political...

Ben Eltham: culture is bigger than the arts

CPD Fellow Ben Eltham, writing in issue 200 of Overland, argues that the Australia Council should be abolished.

First published 4 September 2010.

"Last year I had a meeting with two officers of the Australia Council.

The Australia Council – or OzCo, as nearly everyone in the cultural industries calls it – is the federal government's arts funding and advisory body. The meeting was with two of the council's digital and new media team, who were keen to explain the latest digital arts initiative...

The Australian respond to John Menadue's criticisms

The Australian respond to John's criticisms

After listening to John's comments about the media and their recent coverage of the election, you might like to see how The Australian have responded in an editorial on 18 September and in Janet Albrechtsen's column on 22 September. Both take aim at John Menadue for his criticisms of the their election coverage, describing it as 'a puerile rant'. We'll leave it to our readers to judge for themselves.

Listen to and read what John had to say:

On the...

Marcus Westbury: Arts funding reality check

CPD Fellow Marcus Westbury, writing in The ABC's The Drum Unleashed crunches the numbers and exposes where current arts funding really goes.

First published 21 September 2010.

"The Australia Council's 2009-10 financial year numbers are in and they introduce a bit of a reality check into a growing debate about priorities within Australia's arts funding system."

To read more click here.

Ben Eltham: Forget Crean, real changes in cultural policy will come down to Conroy

CPD Fellow Ben Eltham reveals who'll be in charge of the real cultural policy action in Australia's new ministerial line-up.

First published in Crikey on September 17 2010.

We have a new arts minister: Simon Crean.

Few seem to be mourning the passing of the old one, Peter Garrett. He might have been the first Australian arts minister in history to have been a working musician, but that doesn't seem to have won him many friends in the sector. The silence from the arts community on his departure...

John Menadue: What was wrong with the election coverage & how we fix it

John Menadue, is not only the founding chair of the CPD but also one of Australia's most experienced public administrators and thinkers. He has worked for both Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser and is a very dedicated and established public servant. He has also had first hand experience working in the media, having spent 7 years as General Manager of News Limited, Sydney – so he has a thing or two to say on the role of the media in our society and its recent performance.

On the ABC's 702...