Interview with Stephen Cenatiempo, 2CC Canberra

Topics: Arts sector struggles, live performances canned, sports participation dropping, tax back guarantee.

E&OE…

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

The premature closure of two major musical productions in a matter of days is being described as a warning sign that the Albanese government’s economic and arts policies are failing Australia’s live performance sector. Following the cancelation of the national tour of Beetlejuice, Waitress has now announced it will end its Sydney season early, with producers citing weak audience demand, soft ticket sales, and broader economic pressures. To talk to us about this, the Shadow Minister for The Arts, Angie Bell, joins us. Angie, good morning.

ANGIE BELL

Great to be with you Stephen

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

Isn’t this just a sign of the cost of living crisis?

ANGIE BELL

Absolutely this is a sign. With those two shows closing, as you highlighted in the last week alone. This is about the financial viability of essentially small and medium businesses in the Arts, because it comes down to the cost of doing business under Labor, and we know that producers and those in the arts sector have to pay more for freight, more for energy, more for insurance, more for labour – they just can’t make ends meet, and so at the end of the day this means jobs, and it means big damage to the arts sector.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

This is not the kind of thing that can be turned around quickly though, I wouldn’t have thought.

ANGIE BELL

Well, the problem is Stephen, that it’s the consumer as well who is in a cost of living crisis. As we know, families are struggling to pay their mortgages, their electricity bills, their rents, and it’s resulting in soft ticket sales. And so families have to choose between whether they’ll go and see a show or whether they pay the bills, and unfortunately, entertainment is something that many families choose to cut out.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

I think that the problem with a lot of these things is we sometimes think of performers as rich and sort of above the fray, so to speak, but I’ve got a lot of friends that perform in musical theatre, and maybe not at this level, but it’s obviously going to filter down right throughout the industry.

ANGIE BELL

Well, that’s absolutely right. The Arts actually contribute $67 billion annually to the economy, and that’s not just as you say large productions. We’re talking about small and medium-sized businesses, and you know, back of house, lighting technicians, sound technicians, musicians, actors, and dancers. So, these are, as you say, not wealthy Australians – they’re working hard in the sector that they love. That contributes to our national economy and that contributes to our culture and who we are in this country.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

So what is the answer here? What do we need to do? Is there anything that can be done immediately that will see this kind of thing turn around?

ANGIE BELL

Well, I certainly think the government needs to listen to the arts sector, and there is merit in the Live Performance Australia policy that they’ve put forward here in Parliament House. At a recent event that we had, launching the Parliamentary Friends of Life Performance Australia, it was great to hear them put something on the table that the government should listen to that will help the arts sector. At the end of the day, this is people’s livelihoods, and the government needs to listen to the sector, who are telling me that they’re on their knees.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

I want to talk sport for a moment, too, and it’s obviously front of mind for everybody, because well, we just had my joint defeat, Serena Williams at Wimbledon, and we’ve got the Socceroos looking at going further in the FIFA World Cup than they’ve ever gone before Saturday morning, but when none of these things happen unless grassroots sport is on top of things, and Senate estimates in the last week or so has sort of indicated a real problem with local and community sports.

ANGIE BELL

Well, that’s absolutely right. And participation in sport is down again. It comes back to families choosing between those extracurricular activities like the Arts or like sport, and so we’re seeing participation rates drop because of that. Not only that, but the government halved the funding for grassroots sports, which came up at estimates as well. So there’s no certainty for our communities when it comes to their participation in sport, or funding that will create the pathway and the runway to the 2032 Olympics.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

Yeah, and I mean, that’s clearly the big event that we’re moving towards, despite all those other things I talked about in the interim. Angie, obviously we’re happy to talk to you about these things anytime, but cut through for the Coalition seems to be a real problem at the moment. In the latest polling, whilst you know at the end of the day it’s still early days and there’s plenty of time, but what do you need to do to get your message out there? Because all we seem to be talking about is One Nation, One Nation, nobody’s talking about the messages that you’re putting out there.

ANGIE BELL

Well, that’s right, we do have a suite of policies that Angus outlined at his Budget in Reply, and we need to be telling Australians about those policies, like our Tax Back Guarantee, which would deliver $400 to the average Australian income earner. We need to be talking about the work that we’re doing, we need to be unified, not talking about ourselves, but focused 100% on the Australian public and what they need, because this is the biggest taxing and biggest spending Labor government that we’ve ever had in history, and Australians are hurting as a consequence. That’s why inflation rates are so high, because they cannot stop their spending, they’re addicted to it, and when they run out of money, we all know they come after yours. That’s what they’re doing at the moment. And so families around the country really are struggling to pay their bills, and Labor keeps spending, and inflation keeps going up. And so what we need to do as a Coalition is be united, we need to work very hard to earn the trust of Australians, tell them what we’re doing, tell them how we’re going to improve their lives, and make sure that message is very clear.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

So, not change the name and rebrand?

ANGIE BELL

Well, I think what we need to do is rebrand the Labor Party and remind people they are lying to the Australian public.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

Yeah, I want to touch on that. I touched on this this morning, and I’m going to talk to Matt Canavan further about it tomorrow, but Christy McBain’s performance in Parliament yesterday, accusing Angus Taylor of suggesting that frontline rural firefighters don’t want to fight fires, when is it not what he said at all, but is that shame demonstrated a complete breakdown in Parliamentary procedure, Milton Dick obviously has taken aim at Garth Hamilton, your Queensland colleague, who has just had enough of it and stormed out of the parliament. I don’t blame him.

ANGIE BELL

Well, many of us have had enough of what Labor are doing to our constituencies, who are who are on their knees around the country because of their economic policies, and what Khristy McBain was saying about Angus Taylor was absolutely incorrect and untrue. I wasn’t surprised that Garth stormed out from the Parliament, because he’s very frustrated. Many coalition members on our side of the chamber are frustrated with what Labor are doing and what they’re purporting, and Kristy McBain, when she walked out of the chamber after that, had the smuggest look on her face. She took great pleasure in delivering mistruth to the parliament. She was lying. She had an inference for Angus that was absolutely 100% untrue, and Labor continued to lie to the Australian public, and it’s our job to highlight that.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

And I think Angus was spot on. I mean, there’s a reason why they call national parks and wildlife national sparks and wildfires, which is exactly what he was getting at. Angie, great to talk to you. We’ll catch up again soon.

ANGIE BELL

Thanks, Stephen. Take care.