Scott Morrisons recently announced $250,000,000 ‘Arts Rescue’ package might look promising on the surface, but it looks to be a complete failure for the many within the industry.

The head music teacher at TAFE in the Sydney region Michael Rohanek took to his Facebook page to clearly show why the devil is in the detail.

It’s estimated that there are up to 600,000 people working within the industry, that’s comprised of “musicians, dancers, actors, choreographers, lighting techs, sound engineers, writers, composers, videographers, painters, drawing artists, directors” and more.

Even on a surface level of simple arithmetic, that’s $250,000,000 divided by 600,000 and means a grand whopping, one-off payment of $416 to each and every person. Not on-going, a single payment.

This is for an industry that generates $120,000,000,000 (yes, $12b) into the Australian economy annually. So this figure of $250m represents just 1/448th of the annual revenue but yes, that’ll surely save the industry!

It’s not that simple either though with a big slug of the cash in the form of loans and grants.

Loans: The government will guarantee a loan from a bank to a producer of a show, concert, tour, festival. As a producer of a show why would you borrow money to put into something that was guaranteed to lose money? Social distancing doesn’t allow to have enough people in a theatre to make money. Theatres need about 80% sold to make a profit. It’s a guaranteed loss.

What about the grants though? That’s good news, isn’t it? Not quite.

Grants: You have to compete for these, which means only a few large production companies will get this. They can then use the money to put on an event/concert etc when social distancing returns. In like 6 months or so. Even then the shows will lose money, which further deflates the viability of running such a thing. $75,000 is what the grants start at. You could run something small once, maybe – and pay some people for a few weeks at most. Then what?

Again, these are the only two options for an estimated 600,000 in the industry which, for many don’t qualify for JobKeeper (which is already being rolled back) and without an ABN can’t even apply for a loan or grant.

While this ‘Arts Rescue’ package is good for a headline and maybe those with the cash flow to keep the lights on, it severely fails in even the most basic form and in the words of Michael “…it’s too late, it’s not enough and it’s not aimed at anybody who actually works in the sector.”

Expect festivals, clubs, studios, production companies, events companies and more to disappear over the coming months.

Read the full explanation below or head to Michaels post to like, comment or share if you need help explaining why this does very little for those that need it!

A quick explanation of the Morrison’s Arts Rescue package for my non-Arts friends so they can understand why the arts community is outraged.
$250,000,000 seems like a lot of money. Divide that equally into the 600,000 people that work in the sector that is about $416 per person. Not per week, but a ONCE OFF payment of $416.

The arts sector contributes $112,000,000,000 (112 billion) to our economy. It’s nice that the government is willing to contribute less than than one quarter of one percent of that to ‘kickstart’ the industry. Thats 1/448th of the industry’s annual turnover.

All of that money is tied up into Grants and Loans – oh and if you make Films/TV. So nobody is getting that pathetic $416 once off payment anyway.

Loans: The government will guarantee a loan from a bank to a producer of a show, concert, tour, festival. As a producer of a show why would you borrow money to put into something that was guaranteed to lose money? Social distancing doesn’t allow to have enough people in a theatre to make money. Theatres need about 80% sold to make a profit. It’s a guaranteed loss.

Grants: You have to compete for these, which means only a few large production companies will get this. They can then use the money to put on an event/concert etc when social distancing returns. In like 6 months or so. Even then the shows will lose money, which further deflates the viability of running such a thing. $75,000 is what the grants start at. You could run something small once, maybe – and pay some people for a few weeks at most. Then what?

So – where does it leave all of the musicians, dancers, actors, choreographers, lighting techs, sound engineers, writers, composers, videographers, painters, drawing artists, directors, etc etc etc – nearly all of those people do NOT qualify for Job Keeper, and will not see a cent of this grant / loan money.

Many of these people do not work through an ABN. They have short term contracts with production companies who are now not paying them. If any of these people are getting JobKeeper, which many aren’t – it will run out soon and won’t be eligible for further payments.

Guy Sebastian is a judge on a talent show. He will keep getting paid. He could be a beneficiary of this if he decides to run a loss making tour. He could borrow from the bank to run a tour that nobody can go to leaving him with a huge debt to one of the banks.
I’m so sorry people but this government does not understand the arts. If you think $750/week is hard to live off, try living off $416 for the rest of the year, because there is no other money.

Essentially, it’s too late, it’s not enough and it’s not aimed at anybody who actually works in the sector.