‘Politicians lagging behind’

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32589, 24 April 1971, Page 9

‘Politicians lagging behind’

The report on Arts Conference 70 set out a development programme for arts for the next decade and showed how New Zealand’s cultural sector had lost ground in terms of Government financing when compared with other Commonwealth countries, said the deputy chairman of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council (Mr F. Turnovsky) in a statement released with the report.

“Strangely enough, there is strong evidence to suggest that the national appetite for the arts is on a rising tide," Mr Turnovsky said. "The people must flow to realise this it seems, are those who lead us. To this extent, the politicians are lagging behind the mood of the country." Mr Turnovsky, who was chairman of the conference, said the report on Arts Conference 70 could prove to be the most important document that had ever emerged in New Zealand on the arts.

“It comprises a consensus of the views of more than 250 people, representative of virtually every area of interest in the arts, who attended the conference, and it outlines broad cultural objectives for the next 10. years and says what this means in terms of money," he said.

The report also embodied the conviction that the attainment of economic goals exclusively, was not going to make New Zealand a better country in yrhich to live, Mr Turnovsky said. Dealing with the problem of finance for the arts, Mr Turnovsky said that Arts Council needed more than $750,000 for 1971-72 to start implementing Arts Conference 70 resolutions, and that by 1980-81 the forecast of expenditure was sl.Bm “If the Arts Council’s funding for 1971-72 is no greater than $470,000 (the same as for 1970-71), the council will not only be powerless to implement any of the conference resolutions, but also will be unable to maintain the present level of assistance to activities it presently supports," he said.

27c PER HEAD The projected base year figure for 1971-72 of more than $750,000, represented Government expenditure, including lottery profits, of 27 cents per head of population. This was a substantial increase on the 16,7 cents for 1970-71, Mr Turnovsky said. “But it ie still well below the comparative figures of 47 cents for Great Britain,

36.7 cents for Canada and 34 cents for Australia.” The community at large and the Government, in its turn, would have to agree to devote substantially larger resources to the cultural sector than were at present available to it before any significant implementation of the conference resolutions could be made, he said. The Arts Council was stretched beyond its resources to maintain the limited range of activities to which it was already committed, said Mr Turnovsky,