ANOTHER 50 DAYS OF DELAY – STILL NO HELP FOR THE ARTS

It took the Morrison Government more than 100 days to be dragged kicking and screaming into announcing support for the arts and entertainment sector. Now it’s been another 50 days since they announced that support – but not a dollar has actually been spent.

It’s been 154 days – more than five months – since Labor first called on the Government to help this struggling sector.

But this week Arts Minister Paul Fletcher refused to even guarantee that this urgent, emergency funding would start flowing before the end of 2020.

This is truly pathetic.

The COVID-19 crisis began in March.

For more than three months the Government stubbornly insisted there was no problem and that a sector completely shut down by restrictions was somehow doing fine.

In June, they found they couldn’t keep denying reality and finally relented with a loans and grants program.

It took another six weeks for the Government to approve a set of guidelines for less than half of that package. We have no idea when they will release guidelines for the rest of the money – or indeed when any of the money will actually be released.

This is a sector that employs hundreds of thousands of Australians. These are workers who are hurting and they need help.

They deserve better than this inept, dithering Government.

FRIDAY, 14 AUGUST 2020