Key points
- The federal government has pledged an extra $535 million to support nine cultural institutions in the May budget.
- National Gallery of Australia is to receive almost $120 million, of which $42 million will be spent to replace leaking skylights, and the remaining $77 million to support programs, exhibitions, and staff positions.
- The National Library will receive $146 million in new funding inclusive of $33 million announced Monday to save the digital portal Trove from imminent closure.
The National Gallery of Australia will be given a $76 million “vitamin pill” to bolster its operations and an extra $42 million to fix its leaky building, under a federal government boost hailed by its director as the most significant in the institution’s history.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will on Wednesday make a budget commitment of an additional $535 million over the next four years for nine national institutions to ensure they remain financially sustainable.
Arts Minister Tony Burke: “This funding means people will be able to go to places like the National Gallery of Australia and enjoy the exhibits without worrying about the physical integrity of the building that’s housing them.”Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
All were facing a financial cliff from July brought about by an end to one-off Coalition grants coupled with more than a decade of underfunding and efficiency dividend cutbacks.
“I want all Australians to be able to visit, appreciate and learn from these institutions for generations to come,” Albanese said. “These are special places, and we should be proud of them. They preserve, protect and celebrate Australia’s stories and history. My government is committed to preserving, protecting and celebrating them.”
As well as about $119 million allocated to the National Gallery, funding will be shared by the Australian National Maritime Museum ($23 million), Bundanon Trust ($33 million), Museum of Australian Democracy – Old Parliament House ($38 million), National Archives of Australia ($36.5 million) National Film and Sound Archive ($34 million), National Museum of Australia ($76 million) and the National Portrait Gallery of Australia ($7.2 million).
The National Library will receive $146 million in new funding, including $33 million announced on Monday to save the digital portal Trove from imminent closure.
The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra has been starved of funds and its building is falling apart.Credit:James Brickwood
The capital works money for the NGA falls short of the $265 million needed over the next 10 years to waterproof and repair the gallery’s 40-year-old building, where the lifts and escalators, electric wiring and air-conditioners are at the extreme end of their working life.
But director Nick Mitzevich said: “What we’ve got is $42 million over the next two years for the most critical things and the government is establishing a pipeline for the additional eight years. We’ll work with them for the other eight years so I feel very, very relieved. We can use that $42 million to start the work while we identify all the other bits that need to be done over the course of the next 10 years.”
As for the extra $76 million in core funding over four years, Mitzevich said: “It means we can stabilise, we don’t have to rely on patches any more, and we can plan how we share the national collection in Canberra and around the country.”
Arts Minister Tony Burke said the funding secured jobs and took “institutions back to where they should be – where the government delivers strong core funding and philanthropists take them to the next level”.
“This funding means people will be able to go to places like the National Gallery of Australia and enjoy the exhibits without worrying about the physical integrity of the building that’s housing them.”
Treasury is understood to have been informed by a KPMG report commissioned by the previous government, which painted a dire picture for all collecting institutions without significant extra help.
The National Gallery’s funding boost equates to a lift of 38 per cent in the first year on baseline funding of $45 million. A further $42 million will go to the gallery in the next two years to mount repairs, with the replacement of corroded skylights the gallery’s priority.
All operational budgets will be indexed to inflation, and there will be a new transparent public reporting mechanism for cultural institutions to bring maintenance projects to the attention of government.
But an efficiency dividend mandating cuts or savings for all cultural institutions will remain.
The crisis hit the headlines when The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed last December that NGA chairman Ryan Stokes warned Burke of job losses, the potential closure of the gallery two days a week, and the reintroduction of entry fees if extra funding could not be found in June when one-off Coalition funding expired in June.
A groundswell of support emerged for the NGA after images showed buckets and towels being used to mop up leaks from the roof and skylights. A “distressed” former governor-general Dame Quentin Bryce joined prominent artists to call for a permanent solution to the NGA’s funding troubles.
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