Banish the bland – Kim Williams spells out a positive Australia

Australia needs more far-sighted strategic vision and discussion and less of the self-serving waffle we get from too many of our politicians. The creative and intellectual capacity of our people is central to a bright, ambitious and optimistic future and essential to avoid a decline into irrelevance, according to Kim Williams, former media executive and composer. He is an Australian who values ideas and his vision for a positive Australia is firmly focused on our artists, scientists and major cultural and scientific institutions.

The National Library of Australia puts on some fine talks, quite a few of which I have attended. Last night I went to hear Kim Williams, with his background as a media executive and a composer, talk about the promotion of a positive Australia. Williams has had a long and complex career and while the careers of all interesting people inevitably get mixed reviews, his seem to be more mixed than most.

Ignore all this and his talk was fascinating, especially in the historical moment in which we find ourselves. He ranged across many topics that resonated with my interests in Australian culture. I was particularly struck by his discussion of philanthropy, because it is an immediate practical issue for one of the projects I work on, Design Canberra.

The Kenneth Myer lecture was presented by the National Library, one of the institutions responsible for our national memory that Kim Williams values for Australia's future.

His talk, ‘Holding to true North’, the latest in a long-running series of annual Kenneth Myer lectures, managed to roam widely, as befits someone who has an extensive arts and business background. As the Library noted he has headed prominent organisations such as Musica Viva Australia, Foxtel, the Australian Film Commission, the Sydney Opera House Trust and News Corp Australia. How he ever survived as head of News Corp is hard to imagine - but then the answer is, he didn't.

‘Falling down in our education of future generations is the grand failure of our intergenerational duty of care’.

There needs to be more of this sort of talk in Australia and less of the self-serving, short-sighted waffle we get from too many of our politicians. Thanks are due to the National Library for providing the opportunity. Canberra seems to be the venue for both the best and the worst of what passes for our national political life.

The power of good policy – historical tax distortions waiting for a fix

In a time when arts and culture support is being reduced incrementally, while the size of the economy and the level of both population and demand increases, where is the money going? What better uses is taxpayer money – whether actually collected or foregone – being put to?

We live in an era where arts and culture support – relatively small proportion of overall government expenditure that it is – is continually being cut and restructured. The argument seems to be that there are limited funds and many demands, that there is a 'budget emergency' or, beneath the surface, that government shouldn't be involved in this space at all.

In this context it is interesting to consider where government resources are allocated, how relatively worthwhile are alternative uses of taxpayer funds - whether actually collected or just foregone. The discussion around negative gearing takes us into just such an area.

Negative gearing has been distorting the shape and nature of our cities for a long time.

For decades negative gearing has been distorting the shape of our cities, our suburbs and our communities. It is an inefficient way to achieve the desired result. Because it has been around for so long, it's negative impact has been able to magnify, cumulative like lead poisoning.

Un American Activities Committee

Reading reviews of the new film about the Hollywood screenwriter, Trumbo, I’ve been reminded of the legendary House UnAmerican Activities Committee, set up to hunt reds under the bed  – especially screenwriters – in the US in the late 1940s and 50s.

Only in America could I imagine something with such a bizarre name. What exactly were ‘unAmerican’ activities – apart from sympathy for a foreign power, did it include picking your nose in public, forgetting Mother’s Day, not eating enough pumpkin pie? 

I can’t quite imagine it in Australia – a House of Representatives UnAustralian Activities Committee. Hmm. We might have our national foibles, including a tendency to be taken in by our political leaders, even while we rail at them, but I can’t quite see it.

This article was originally published elsewhere in my blogosphere and has been revised for this blog.

See also

 

An everyday life worth living – indefinite articles for a clean, clever and creative future
‘My blog “indefinite article” is irreverent writing about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age. Over the last ten years I have published 166 articles about creativity and culture on the blog. This is a list of all the articles I have published there, broken down into categories, with a brief summary of each article. They range from the national cultural landscape to popular culture, from artists and arts organisations to cultural institutions, cultural policy and arts funding, the cultural economy and creative industries, First Nations culture, cultural diversity, cities and regions, Australia society, government, Canberra and international issues – the whole range of contemporary Australian creativity and culture’, An everyday life worth living – indefinite articles for a clean, clever and creative future.

How to run down an essential service – adventures in the crazy world of Centrelink 

‘Of late I have been developing a close one-on-many relationship with Centrelink as I fulfill my destiny of sorting out stuff for my elderly relatives. It reminds me of dealing with Australia Post over many years. Everyone at Australia Post used to bend over backwards to help you. The problem was that their systems were so bad that even their own staff couldn’t get them to work. This is what Centrelink is like. In the crazy world of failing public service systems that are being overtaken by reality, the only solution is a work around. The tick the box approach that is being fostered in the new deskilled public service can’t handle complexity. The test of any system – or policy, strategic plan, program – is how well it handles the unexpected, the unforeseen, reality. This looks like failure to me’, How to run down an essential service – adventures in the crazy world of Centrelink.

Diversity underpins the innovation we desperately need
‘I keep writing that cultural diversity is crucial to innovation because where cultures intersect, innovation happens. In a world where change is fast and widespread can anyone afford not to mobilise all they have going for them – to survive, let alone to succeed? Cultural diversity is a big part of that picture’, Diversity underpins the innovation we desperately need.

The power of good policy – historical tax distortions waiting for a fix
‘The heated response to the tax debate around negative gearing debate and capital gains tax shows that if political parties adopt a clear policy, in line with their core values and aligned with popular concerns, then get behind it and explain it, people will respond. For decades negative gearing has been distorting the shape of our cities, our suburbs and our communities. It is an inefficient way to achieve the desired result. These are historical tax distortions waiting for a fix’, The power of good policy – historical tax distortions waiting for a fix.

Venue lockdown – a blunt instrument for a dire problem
‘The issue of venue lockdown to deal with alcohol-fuelled assaults is becoming a major debate. Of course venue owners are concerned and their argument that the policy will affect the hospitality industry may well be valid – but that, by itself, is not enough. It comes down to how effective the approach is at addressing the problem and how badly the hospitality industry is affected. The question is how finely different kinds of venues are distinguished from each other in a strategy to reduce alcohol-related violence. Dealing with it was never going to be simple or easy. However, like all government policy, it’s all too easy to go for the one size fits all approach which might look good but not work’, Venue lockdown – a blunt instrument for a dire problem.

How to run down an essential service – adventures in the crazy world of Centrelink

Cuts to government support for arts and culture are part of a much wider pattern of assault on the historic nation-building role of government. Services that maintain a safety net for those who fall through the cracks of the social system are being steadily eroded as governments focus on cutting costs rather than maintaining revenue in a time when the economy and the population are both growing.

Government support for arts and culture in Australia has been badly affected by a series of cuts and restructures which have had widespread damaging effects on arts and culture organisations, especially the smaller and less powerful.

The changes to the Australia Council are only a small part of a series of actions which have impacted the broad arts and culture sector. The Creative Industries Innovation Centre closed its doors in 2015 after the Government declined to support it. This centre played a major role in support for Australia’s creative industries.

With strong reservations in the current Government about the role of Government services and the value of public assets, more and more changes are likely as outsourcing picks up pace. Unfortunately any potential value in the changes will be overshadowed by the ideological agenda against the role of government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that the cuts to arts and culture do not even begin to compare to broader cuts in funding for important government and community services. In many ways it underlines the importance of the arts and culture sector seeking alliances beyond the sector. This cold provide both an array of community partnerships and support and partnerships with increasingly important economic allies.

Travelling together through the city

Public transport is such a central element in a modern city. It has fundamental implications for how productive a city is, how culturally active and just how personally pleasant it is to live and work in.

Public transport is a functional necessity but it also has a symbolic importance in terms of establishing a shared public space that is not privately owned. I’ve been trying to pin down why #Illridewithyou took off so spectacularly as it caught the popular imagination after the Lindt Cafe siege.

Sydney train crosses the Harbour Bridge

It’s partly because it showed so clearly that the cesspools of racist bigotry are just that – isolated pools. It’s partly because of nuances – it doesn’t say I’ll walk with you, which was the original phrase it sprung from. It says ‘ride’. In a city which flourishes on a troubled public transport system, which is a leveller between people of different incomes, it says ‘ride’, that is on public transport.

Sydney - Australia's most valuable location but public transport its greatest weakness

Economist Ross Gittins has been reporting on the way in which cities are critical to modern economies, particularly to the knowledge economy with it’s emphasis on interconnectedness, networking and innovative business relationships and processes.

A pair of articles by Matt Wade in ‘The Sydney Morning Herald in April 2015 looks at how this is playing out in Australia’s largest city, Sydney.

In the first article, he lays out what has been happening to this mega-city, as different sub-regions in the city develop their own distinct economic strengths and paths. ‘The CBD is slowly becoming less important to Sydney. The city's economic centre of gravity – the point around which all economic output is evenly balanced – is at Concord, nine kilometres west of the CBD. And it has been drifting north-west for more than a decade. That's because emerging economic hubs such as Macquarie Park, Sydney Olympic Park and Parramatta have been dragging the city's economic centre of gravity away from the CBD.’

Sydney skyline - base of Centrepoint Tower with tower crane

What this means is all too apparent. ‘The upshot? The influence of Sydney's alternative business centres is rising and the city needs much better transport connections between them if it is to thrive.’

Education - what does free mean?

At Whitlam’s memorial there was much mention, particularly by Cate Blanchett, of what his reforms to tertiary education had meant – for her personally but for Australia overall as well.

This was timely given the current attempts to make education far more expensive and to push the cost back onto individuals rather than Australia as a whole.

Broad-based access to education is critical to building  a highway to the future

It is sometimes argued that the reforms of the Whitlam Government benefited only middle class children, making free an education that their parents would otherwise have paid for, with the cost picked up by the taxpayer instead.