Setting the cultural agenda: The Monthly one-on-one with Tony Burke
7am
00:00
The Australia Council and the Brandis Cuts
There is a recurring refrain about skepticism about the effectiveness of the Australia Council. Richard Flanagan, for example, suggested that literature is poorly served by the Australian Council and they might be better to break away like film does. The Brandis Cuts were so that George Brandis could have ministerial decision making rather than peers making decisions on artistic merit. And that had two impacts: One, it caused a lack of confidence from a lot of people in the Australia Council because they just simply didn't have the funds to do it. Similarly, OZCO has become increasingly seen as a funding body and even though they get great data, they haven't been effectively charged with being advocates for what we might
Play episode from 12:51
Transcript
