Commitment to touring welcome, says Alliance

The Chair of the Performing Arts Touring Alliance, Suzie Haslehurst, says she welcomes the attention that the Labor Party, Coalition and Greens are giving to national performing arts touring.  

The Chair of the Performing Arts Touring Alliance, Suzie Haslehurst, says she welcomes the attention that the Labor Party, Coalition and Greens are giving to national performing arts touring.  

Speaking today, Ms Haslehurst said it was important.

“This focus is an acknowledgement of the vital role of touring to provide access to the performing arts to all Australians, wherever they live,” she said.

The Gillard Labor Government, the Coalition and the Greens provide policy offerings to contribute to the ongoing life of the performing arts touring sector.

The Labor Party seeks “greater efficiency and effectiveness of arts funding” by transferring Playing Australia and other funding programs to the Australia Council for the Arts. The Coalition seeks to give more funds to the Playing Australia program, which contributes to the breadth and reach of touring across the country. The Greens are committed to increasing incentives for artists to tour/establish in regional and remote Australia.

Each of these objectives is of great importance to the sector, one that represents an industry valued by the ABS as in excess of one billion dollars, facilitating 11.6 million attendances at over 50,000 events.

The Alliance welcomes the opportunity to enter a dialogue on the future of performing arts touring in Australia with the new government after Saturday’s election.

“With members including the Australian Major Performing Arts Group, the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association, Regional Arts Australia and independent producers and touring coordinators, the Performing Arts Touring Alliance has an extensive knowledge base. We can make a significant contribution to a consultative process for the most effective funding outcomes for performing arts touring in Australia,” said Ms Haslehurst.