Interview with Nick Rheinberger, ABC Radio Illawarra

Topics: Australian Arts sector pressures, Live Performance Australia.

E&OE…

NICK RHEINBERGER

When you look around the world, when it comes to politics, we’re seeing a lot of divisions, which seem almost unsolvable, but here’s one thing that brings just about everybody together: music and live performance, and I was very heartened to see over the weekend, the launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Live performance, which had Tony Burke, a well-known singer and guitar player, as well as some performances from people right across the aisle, including this one, which impressed the hell out of me. Just have a listen to this. This is the Liberal member Angie Bell, alongside Sam Birrell, who’s a national from Northern Victoria.

*plays recording of performance at the Parliamentary Friends of Live Performance Australia*

NICK RHEINBERGER

And my saxophone playing friends tell me that is not an easy thing to do, play the sax solo from Baker Street, that is the Shadow Minister for the Arts, Sport, and Youth from Queensland, Angie Bell, who’s on our phone right now. Good day, Angie. How are you going?

ANGIE BELL

Thanks so much, Nick. Nice to get a bit of a radio airplay.

NICK RHEINBERGER

Congratulations, that is not easy to do in front of a whole stack of people. How long has the saxophone been a part of your life?

ANGIE BELL

Well, since I was in high school. It is something that really gave me lots of opportunity in my life, and that is actually why I entered politics to try and preserve that equality of opportunity for young people that I had going to a big public high school in South Australia. But I know what it’s like to be an artist who relies on productions and venues for income, for over 30 years as a professional sax player, so it was nice to be able to play in front of some of my colleagues and bring the house down with Baker Street.

NICK RHEINBERGER

Yes, well it certainly got all of the Parliamentary Friends of Live Performance applauding. Have we finally found something that you and the Labor Party can agree upon?

ANGIE BELL

Well, certainly I think the Arts sector is very, very important, and I think the Labor Party need to understand that the sector is under pressure because of this cost-of-living crisis. Obviously, people who buy tickets are under the pressure, but also the venues, the cost of doing business, the production costs, the touring costs, the weaker consumer confidence, the softer ticket sales, all of those things Live Performance Australia are telling us are impacting them, and that is why they were here in Parliament House for the Parliamentary Friendship Group launch to talk about those pressures that they’re under.

NICK RHEINBERGER

Yeah, we’ve just seen a couple of pretty high-profile musicals announce that they’re cutting back on their touring, including Waitress, which is no longer coming to Sydney, and the closure of Beetlejuice, as well. I mean, is that just the market talking, or is there something more that Parliament could potentially do?

ANGIE BELL

Well, I think there certainly is a perfect storm of cost-of-living pressures on those three or four areas that I talked about, so people who are buying tickets, obviously they are cutting back on their budgets because of all of the increases with their energy, housing, insurance, and those sorts of things. So, families are cutting back, but you’re also finding that production companies also are cutting back because they’re facing similar increases in their energy bills and other costs associated. So that, along with softer ticket sales, is impacting the sector, and the sector is telling us that they are concerned about that. So, I think the government needs to listen to what live performance is saying, because this is part of who we are as Australians. The Arts sector is a major employer, contributes about $67 billion a year to the economy, and we don’t want to see it fail.

NICK RHEINBERGER

Well, what should the government be doing about it?

ANGIE BELL

Well, Live Performance Australia have a policy that they’ve put to the government that I think the government needs to look at. It is a production offset policy, similar to the film industry, and I certainly think it has merit, and we’re working through that ourselves. I’ve met with Tim Minchin on that policy proposal. We’ll work through that. I’m working on the Liberal Arts policy, as you would expect now, a couple of years out from the next election, but certainly I think the government needs to listen to the songs that live performance are singing.

NICK RHEINBERGER

I know that we certainly do that with films on a state basis as well as a federal basis to attract work. Do we need to do things with, do the same thing with stage productions?

ANGIE BELL

Well, I think we certainly need an environment where the sector is incentivised to grow, because essentially across the Arts sector, you’re looking at small businesses. When small and medium businesses flourish then artists, venues and all associated employees can thrive and that’s the sort of environment that I’d like to see in the Australian Arts scene and across all of the sub sectors of the Arts.

NICK RHEINBERGER

Is that where it starts? Making sure the businesses particularly hospitality businesses, can thrive, and therefore they can afford to pay for musicians.

ANGIE BELL

Well, that’s right. Of course, if you don’t have small businesses employing people across the Arts sector, then you don’t have an Arts sector. If you’re a musician, you need to play in a venue. If you’re an artist, you need to be able to show your works in an art gallery. If those art galleries don’t have sufficient funding, then there’s nowhere to show the art, and so this makes sense that it comes back to well, Liberal Arts policy, which is always to support those small and family businesses and the medium entities, and of course the galleries and theatres around the country.

NICK RHEINBERGER

All right Angie Bell, I’m glad you’ve kept up the saxophone practice. And thanks very much for joining us this morning.

ANGIE BELL

Thanks so very much, Nick. Have a great day.