Introduction


To speak of Australian culture is to recognise our common heritage. It is to say that we share ideas, values, sentiments and traditions, and that we see in all the various manifestations of these what it means to be Australian.

Culture, then, concerns identity - the identity of the nation, communities and individuals. We seek to preserve our culture because it is fundamental to our understanding of who we are. It is the name we go by, the house in which we live. Culture is that which gives us a sense of ourselves.

Culture, therefore, also concerns self-expression and creativity. Not only do we seek to preserve our heritage and tradition, we cultivate them. We preserve the things that make us what we are and cultivate the means of reaching what we can be. We recognise that the life of the nation and all our lives are richer for an environment in which art and ideas can flourish, and in which all can share in the enjoyment of them.

With a cultural policy we recognise our responsibility to foster and preserve such an environment. We recognise that the ownership of a heritage and identity, and the means of self-expression and creativity, are essential human needs and essential to the health of society.

Because culture reflects and serves both the collective and the individual need, because it at once assures us of who we are and inspires us with intimations of the heights we might reach, this cultural policy pursues the twin goals of democracy and excellence. It will make the arts and our intellectual and cultural life and heritage more accessible to all. And it will help to create the conditions under which the finest expressions of our creativity can be reached and enjoyed. The ultimate aim of this cultural policy is to enrich the people of Australia.

This is the first national cultural policy in our country's history, but if that suggests a lack of will in the past, there was never a lack of interest. The debate goes back to the foundations of European settlement. Colonial Australians generally equated cultural goals with the successful transplantation of British civilisation to Australia; with the creation of `a new Britannia in another world', in the famous words of William Charles Wentworth. This refrain continued well into this century, of course, but it has had to share the stage with the distinctly Australian voice that emerged with the birth of the nation 100 years ago.

The works of writers and artists, like Lawson and Furphy, Roberts and Streeton, offered an Australian perspective of Australian life - a distinct set of values and views reflecting a distinctly Australian experience.

Broadly speaking, debate about the culture of Australia has followed the same lines throughout this century. At the extremes there have been outbursts of fervent Anglophilia and rampant jingoism. For years we endured what A.A. Phillips called the `cultural cringe' - the belief that nothing Australian should be considered of cultural value until it has been approved in London, or perhaps New York - and its no less excruciating opposite, the cultural strut - the belief that little of cultural value is produced outside Australia, and even less is `relevant'.

Neither position is edifying or helpful. The destructive effects are real ones. A polarised debate is always debilitating, and when talented Australians drew the conclusion that their own country was a cultural desert, and packed their bags for Europe, the loss to our national life was incalculable. This cultural policy comes at the end of our first century of nationhood. At one level it might be viewed as a declaration that the `cringe' and the `strut' are both over for good. The policy is delivered with every hope that in the twenty-first century talented Australians will never feel obliged to leave their country behind.

In recent years we have learned that there is much to gain and little to fear from being open to the world. It is as true of the culture as it is of the economy. In fact the meeting of imported and home-grown cultures has massively enriched us. Relatively few manifestations of the old xenophobia and insecurity remain. Multicultural Australia - a society which is both diverse and tolerant of diversity, which actively encourages diversity - is one of our great national achievements. It is important to remember that the achievement was built upon the traditional democratic strengths of Australian society - and these should never be neglected. That is one reason why the Government is keen to see far greater understanding of our institutions, history and traditions. With the Civics Expert Group we have begun this process. At the same time as we encourage cultural pluralism, we want to encourage among all Australians a deeper appreciation of our heritage and with it a deep attachment to Australia.

Contemporary, multicultural, urban Australia draws on a much more complex web of traditions and looks towards a wider world than Henry Lawson could ever have imagined. But the values with which his generation is associated, like the literature and art of his time, have not faded. In countless ways they remain defining features of the Australian cultural landscape.

It is not only from these international and local sources that the riches have come. As never before we now recognise the magnificent heritage of the oldest civilisation on earth - the civilisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In literature, art, music, theatre and dance, the indigenous culture of Australia informs and enriches the contemporary one. The culture and identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians has become an essential element of Australian identity, a vital expression of who we all are.

The lesson is that, so long as we are assured about the value of our own heritage and talents, we have nothing to fear from being open to other cultural influences. Yet many Australians say that just now Australian culture is under unprecedented threat. And they have good cause for saying it. The revolution in information technology and the wave of global mass culture potentially threatens that which is distinctly our own. In doing so it threatens our identity and the opportunities this and future generations will have for intellectual and artistic growth and self-expression. The measures we have taken in this cultural policy are substantially designed to meet this challenge, and ensure that what used to be called a cultural desert does not become a sea of globalised and homogenised mediocrity.

That is why we must address the information revolution and the new media not with fear and loathing, but with imagination and wit. We have to see the extraordinary opportunities for enjoyment and creativity it contains. We have to embrace it as we embraced the cultural diversity which post-war immigration delivered to us, recognising that we can turn the remarkable power of this new technology to a democratic and creative cultural purpose. It can inform us and enrich us. It can generate new realms of creative opportunity. We have to engage with it and put the stamp of Australia on it. That is the principal reason why the Government this year linked the portfolios of Communications and the Arts, and why a significant part of this document is concerned with the revolution that is already changing our lives.

The ultimate aim of this cultural policy is to increase the comfort and enjoyment of Australian life. It is to heighten our experience and add to our security and well-being. In that it pursues similar ends to any social policy. By shoring up our heritage in new or expanded national institutions and adapting technology to its preservation and dissemination, by creating new avenues for artistic and intellectual growth and expression and by supporting our artists and writers, we enable ourselves to ride the wave of global change in a way that safeguards and promotes our national culture.

This cultural policy is also an economic policy. Culture creates wealth. Broadly defined, our cultural industries generate 13 billion dollars a year. Culture employs. Around 336,000 Australians are employed in culture-related industries. Culture adds value, it makes an essential contribution to innovation, marketing and design. It is a badge of our industry. The level of our creativity substantially determines our ability to adapt to new economic imperatives. It is a valuable export in itself and an essential accompaniment to the export of other commodities. It attracts tourists and students. It is essential to our economic success.

This is the first Commonwealth cultural policy in our history. It is long overdue.

In July 1992 the Commonwealth Government appointed a panel of eminent Australians to advise on the formulation of a Commonwealth cultural policy. Creative Nation owes much to their work. A preamble to the cultural policy was prepared by the Panel prior to the last election. It is here reprinted.


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