Matters of Interest

Arts Funding

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:20): I rise to speak about arts and music education. As members are aware, there have been a number of cuts and threats made to the arts industry and to arts and music education, both at a state and federal level in recent months. Funding has been sliced and diced at state and federal levels with even our flagship arts festival, the Adelaide Festival, taking a hit. What I find even more concerning is the seemingly blasé attitude towards arts education for our young people when it is so vital.

Recently, federal Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham, called arts education at a VET level a 'lifestyle choice'. That was his justification why VET student loans have been cut for courses such as communications, visual arts, editing, animation and jewellery design. It prefaced an announcement that almost 60 arts diplomas would no longer be eligible for these student loans and the priority would be elsewhere.

Now we learn that at a state level the Department for Education and Child Development schools in our public education system run the risk of losing the ability for their students to undertake education in musical instruments due to a current standoff that is going through the industrial relations system. With the potential loss next year of the offerings of instrumental music teachers to public school students, many young people may well miss out on an opportunity to become a musician or simply to broaden their education.

Mr Birmingham, at the federal level, projected his belief upon people that somehow the arts are not a career, and we are seeing it again at a state level with our state education system devaluing creative skills and the potential loss of dedicated musical professionals and aspiring young musicians. Cuts to creativity mean children may never realise their dream or their potential. They may well go on to find a real job as a musician, an actor, a visual artist, a cartoonist, a game developer or a dancer.

By pigeonholing young people and steering their educational offerings away from arts, we not only lead them to a life lacking in passion but we also deny them their true genius. The world would benefit from more diversity in arts and music education right from the start. South Australia should be ensuring that public school students have the opportunity to take up the broadest range of offerings, including musical education.

There is an allegory, 'Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.' There are many young people in our schools who may struggle with maths and who may find it difficult within other areas of the curriculum, but who may shine at music. For them, that offering is the difference between a school experience that is reflective and supportive of their genius or one that treats them as lacking in that genius and somehow stupid.

If we cease to offer our students in South Australia a range of opportunities to find their passion or their genius, they may well spend their whole life thinking that they are not able to shine. We should value all facets of education, including the arts, arithmetic and agricultural studies. Everybody excels at something, but if the 'somethings' keep being cut then many people will not find that thing they excel at, and we as a society will be the losers as a result.

What if the next Jimi Hendrix loses his guitar tutor, the next Matt Groening cannot access a student loan for his drawing course or the next Billie Holiday is not allocated a voice teacher? I do not want to see the next generation of children who may well be fish trying to climb trees when they could be happy and talented swimmers. With that, the Greens will be supporting the campaign to keep music education in public schools.