Crunch time for Australia's arts and media

Geoff Morrell, Simon Burke, Quentin Dempster, John Howard, Margo 
Kingston, Alice McConnell, Judy Horacek and key Australian orchestra 
members were among Australian performers and media identities gathering at 
the Sydney Opera House on October 6 to make a last ditch attempt to ensure 
that Australia's cultural and media industries are not put up for grabs in 
the government's free trade negotiations with the US.

"It is down to the wire", said Simon Whipp, Director Equity, for the Media, 
Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

"To date we have had support from the Federal Government for the exclusion 
of Australian media and cultural industries from the free trade agreement", 
he said.

"However, negotiations with the US are set to recommence in late October 
and the US Government is pushing for a backdown, so we must ensure the 
Australian Government holds firm."

The US proposal recognises trades away our cultural future by ruling that 
from here on in, no new provisions or structures will be needed or allowed 
to protect our culture or media.

"We live in an ever-changing world and a proposal which does not protect 
the right of governments to react to these changes as and when they happen 
will mean that future regimes are not able to support and promote 
Australian culture as governments have to date", Whipp said.

Significant changes to technology in the future are inevitable. Governments 
need the flexibility to respond to these technological advances and other 
societal changes to continue the promotion of Australian culture to 
Australians and to the world.