November 6, 2008

UNIQUELY NEW ZEALAND
Labour’s policy for Arts, Culture & Heritage 2008  

Introduction

Labour believes arts, culture and heritage play an essential role in defining our nation’s unique identity. We value the energy, enterprise and confidence which result from cultural and creative expression.

Support for our arts and cultural sector includes ensuring that there is adequate funding and support for our cultural institutions so that the sector can continue to develop. It means supporting initiatives which support artists and cultural practitioners making a living from careers in the arts. It means investing in opportunities for Kiwi artists from all communities to tell our nation’s stories. It also means working to protect the intellectual property rights of our artists in the digital age.

New Zealand increasingly has an international reputation for being creative and innovative. Our creative industries make a strong contribution to the growth of our economy, offering exciting employment for New Zealanders and developing high-tech creative capability which attracts world-wide attention.

Achieving growth in our cultural sector is assisted by broadening the audience for its output, both at home and abroad. In the digital age there are new opportunities to reach ever wider audiences, and to provide greater access to our cultural and heritage experiences. We are committed to investment in a wide range of initiatives which encourage cultural growth, innovation and opportunity.

The development of the regional arts, cultural and heritage infrastructure is important. Strong artistic, cultural and heritage communities foster both local economic growth and identity. Support for regional communities to create inspiring arts, culture and heritage experiences enables New Zealanders, and overseas visitors, to enjoy the wealth of cultural expression we have throughout our country.

Young people have a vital role in the development of our cultural sector, not just for their own wellbeing and sense of identity but because they are the emerging artists and cultural practitioners of tomorrow. We support the development of clear pathways into careers in the sector.

Our unique natural, social, and built heritage helps us understand the forces which have shaped us as a nation. We are committed to its protection. Labour supports ongoing research, documentation, and presentation of our heritage using the expertise we have and taking advantage of developments in technology.

Supporting the Creative Sector

A decade ago our cultural agencies were systemically under-funded, to the extent of only just surviving financially. Creative New Zealand, our nation’s agency for arts and cultural development, desperately needed a significant boost in funding to enable it to provide secure funding and development opportunities for the arts, including Mâori and Pacific arts.

Labour has shown its commitment to supporting the creative sector, with sustained investment to enable our arts and cultural organisations to thrive. We have increased funding for arts, culture and heritage, including broadcasting, from $97 million in 1999 to $286 million in 2008.

We have invested in Creative New Zealand, the government’s arts funding agency, and directly in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; the Royal New Zealand Ballet; Te Matatini, the national kapa haka organisation; Te Papa; the New Zealand Film Commission; New Zealand Film Archive; and in other organisations across the arts and Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector.

Ten years ago… our arts and cultural sector was neglected and many of our key national institutions were in a fragile financial position, some on the verge of collapse.

Today… significant injections of funding have put the cultural sector on a strong footing and aided a renaissance of New Zealand’s arts, culture and heritage.  

Ten years from now… continued growth and innovation in our creative industries will mean Kiwi arts and culture are recognised internationally for their excellence, contributing to our national identity, economic growth and New Zealand’s attractiveness as a premier destination for cultural tourism.

Our strong support for the screen industry over the last nine years has contributed to the success of New Zealand film. Our screen industry now has a turnover of more than $NZ2.54 billion each year. The Film Commission’s funding has been significantly boosted in that time to support the efforts of Kiwi filmmakers. This increased funding has brought us some of New Zealand’s most successful films in recent years, such as Whale Rider, The World’s Fastest Indian and River Queen. These films and many others have contributed to our sense of national identity and been a major success in sharing our stories with the world.

Labour has promoted initiatives to support writers and widen the readership of New Zealand literature, both here and overseas. We have worked to increase New Zealand book exports overseas and supported the development of New Zealand Book Month.

Labour believes our cultural sector and creative industries have an important role to play in contributing to New Zealand’s economic growth and enriching our communities.

Labour will continue to increase the level of funding and support for arts, culture and heritage.

We will continue to prioritise the arts, culture and heritage sectors because of their contribution to defining New Zealand’s unique identity.

Labour will continue to provide Prime Ministerial leadership to the arts, culture and heritage portfolio to promote its central role in building our national identity.

We believe the arts, culture and heritage are central to defining who and what we are as a nation, and deserve promotion at the highest level. We will continue to support cultural awards, such as the annual Prime Minister’s award for literary achievement which acknowledges the accomplishments of our leading literary figures and promotes artistic excellence.  

Protecting artists’ rights

Labour will continue to focus on measures which will lift the incomes of artists and those who work in the cultural sector.

Labour believes it is essential that our artists and creative people are able to make a living and build exciting careers from their work. We have recently increased funding for the annual royalty payment that New Zealand authors get to compensate them for use of their books in public libraries and included this initiative in legislation. The new Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors Act has been passed by Parliament.

With cultural trends and technology changing fast, our laws need to keep pace. Our artists stand to lose significant revenue where their work is exploited and copied. With pirating and counterfeiting rife internationally, Labour has focused on ensuring that the creative rights of our artists are adequately protected across all art forms.

We will consult across the creative and communication sectors to develop and implement intellectual property policies that encourage innovation and rewards for creativity, recognising that intellectual property laws will need to evolve into the future with changes in digital technology.

We have regularly reviewed and updated the legislation covering arts, culture and heritage agencies and sectors, including intellectual property laws. We have developed stricter measures against those who attempt to profit from pirated and counterfeit works.

Labour has recognised the need to explore how creative rights for traditional knowledge, including Mâori, Pacific and other cultural designs, images, songs and dances, can be protected where these cultural taonga are not owned individually, yet are increasingly subject to commercial exploitation in New Zealand and overseas. We have initiated work to protect and promote respect for traditional knowledge in New Zealand, across the Pacific and beyond.

The visual arts are another area where we will legislate to support artists to get a fair financial return from their work.

Labour will implement a resale royalty right for visual artists.

We will ensure that a resale royalty right is established for New Zealand artists to give them the same rights as artists in other countries to receive a commission on the resale of their work. Our legislation to establish this scheme is currently before Parliament.

Opportunities for New Zealand in the Film Sector

We know that competition between countries to attract film productions is intense. A grant scheme was introduced in 2003 to attract big-budget film and television production to New Zealand, which ensured that blockbuster movies like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and King Kong were made in New Zealand, bringing with them significant positive flow-on effects for our country.

We have also ensured that we make New Zealand a more attractive place for New Zealand films to be made. This year we established a Screen Production Incentive Fund to support increased production of medium and larger-scale movies with significant New Zealand cultural content. $53.8 million is available for this over four years, of which $27.8 million is entirely new funding.

The New Zealand Screen Production Incentive Fund (SPIF) will provide a government grant of 40 percent of qualifying New Zealand production expenditure for eligible New Zealand feature films, and 20 percent of qualifying New Zealand production expenditure for eligible television and other screen production expenditure.

More New Zealand films will be made as a result of this new initiative.

Labour will continue to support the development of the New Zealand film industry to ensure that:

• our own stories are told, supported by the Screen Production Incentive Fund and other programmes of the New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand on Air, Te Mângai Pâho and Creative New Zealand
• New Zealand is promoted as a premier location for international film production, and
•  links between film and tourism opportunities are fostered.

•  Increase earnings from overseas music markets
• Foster the growth of the domestic music industry, and
• Promote New Zealand’s reputation internationally as a home of innovative talent.

With music formats increasingly shifting to digital media, Labour will support our musicians to access digital markets and maximise the opportunities provided by new technology.

Labour will support the development and export of digital initiatives, in recognition of changing international markets.

Encouraging Growth, Innovation and Opportunity
Labour believes that achieving growth in our cultural sector involves growing appreciative audiences, both here and overseas. We strongly value the arts for the contribution they make to New Zealand’s national and social identity. also the opportunities to expand our audience both through tourism and through offshore marketing.

Labour will continue to work with arts, culture, and heritage agencies as well as with NZ artists and NZ businesses at all levels to ensure that the sector continues to flourish.

We will work with leaders in the creative sectors to ensure that a strategic approach is taken to their development, barriers to development are addressed, and the potential benefits to the economy are realised.

We see strong opportunities for leveraging growth for our cultural sector from significant events, such as the Rugby World Cup 2011.

Labour will work to ensure that the 2011 Rugby World Cup is a world-class event that is uniquely New Zealand. We will create a festival around it which involves and engages the entire country and showcases New Zealand to the rest of the world.

An international cultural diplomacy programme has been established to build a New Zealand cultural presence in key regions overseas and to foster increased economic, trade, tourism, diplomatic, and cultural interests with these countries. As part of this interagency programme, a statue of a New Zealand soldier was dedicated on the ANZAC bridge in Sydney this year to honour the long-standing and close relationship between Australia and New Zealand.

Labour will work with the creative, cultural, and tourism sectors and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to expand export opportunities for music, the screen production industries and the visual arts, and continue to support cultural diplomacy initiatives to raise New Zealand’s profile internationally.

Government and its agencies can partner with cultural practitioners and artists to promote innovative business models which exploit the full range of funding possibilities and the opportunities advances in technology bring. This will assist them both to reach new audiences and to provide broader access to cultural and heritage experiences.

The NZlive.com website (www.nzlive.com) was launched in 2006, and is an important one-stop hub of cultural information about New Zealand, featuring a guide which links people to hundreds of events. Its aim is to make sure that we New Zealanders and our visitors know what is going on in areas so we can support our artists and enjoy the huge range of opportunities to participate in our cultural sphere. NZLive.com also features a funding guide to enable individuals, cultural and heritage groups, societies, and institutions to have easy access to information about funding for their work.

Labour will continue to develop NZLive.com with a focus on increasing links for tourism and community funding opportunities.

We will build on the success of NZLive.com, developing its capacity to deliver up-to-date cultural information tailored to domestic and international tourism. We will also continue to expand its potential to better connect our artists and cultural organisations with the full range of available funding sources.

Labour will investigate the potential for government to develop an online platform to assist and promote charitable giving towards arts, culture and heritage activities and organisations.

We are aware that many cultural organisations rely on strong support from corporate sponsorship and philanthropy. Labour has supported this through removing the cap on tax rebates for gifts to registered charitable organisations. We will now explore what more can be done to promote the benefits of cultural sponsorship across arts and heritage through online technology.

Valuing the Contribution of All Our Creative People

Labour has been a strong supporter of Mâori and Pacific traditional and contemporary art.

We believe Mâori arts, culture and heritage make a vital contribution to our national identity. Mâori creativity and heritage help in defining us to the world as a unique nation with our own distinctive images, perspectives, culture and heritage. On screen or on stage, both here and abroad, Mâori culture and Mâori artists capture the attention of the world. We know that Mâori culture is a key part of being a New Zealander and that by supporting our performers and artists both domestically and internationally, New Zealand’s culture and arts can be showcased globally.

Labour will continue to support Mâori artists including through the high quality Toi Iho branding and will work to develop further opportunities for young artists to promote their talent and product through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

On a local level, Labour remains committed to supporting and nurturing Mâori culture.

Labour will provide continued support for Mâori performing arts through Te Matatini and consider further opportunities to support national competitions in schools to actively uphold the cultural expression of Mâori.

We are committed to promoting the richness and diversity of our Pacific cultures through the arts. We will also promote career pathways available in the creative sector, and support our Pacific peoples in their artistic and economic development.

Labour supports continued investment in the arts within Pacific communities, and will promote the career pathways available in the creative sector.

We believe artistic and cultural participation from all ethnic communities in New Zealand is a vital component of building our national identity, and will take further steps to increase support for artists from diverse cultural traditions.

Labour will provide funding to enable a focus on increasing the contribution from New Zealand’s diverse ethnic communities.

Labour values the contribution, and has encouraged the participation, of artists with disabilities through funding for organisations such as Arts Access Aotearoa and support for a number of ‘outsider art’ programmes. We have also committed to hosting Momentum 09, an international disability arts symposium to raise greater understanding of, and profile for, the artistic talents of people with disabilities. We believe it is important to promote pathways for people with disabilities to assist in developing their creative talents and cultural enterprise.

Labour will work across Creative NZ, local community services, Ministry of Social Development and local government bodies to develop further opportunities for people with disabilities to develop creative initiatives.

Regional and Community Arts and Culture

Supporting innovative local communities and sustainable arts infrastructure in our regional centres is important in promoting local identity and economic growth.

Nine years ago it was clear that a significant boost to funding was needed to enable regional museums and galleries to update and expand their facilities. The Regional Museums Fund we established has supported major redevelopments across the country.

These redevelopments can be seen at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Te Puke Ariki in New Plymouth, Eastern Southland Gallery in Gore, Aratoi in Masterton, the New Zealand Film Archive, Nelson Provincial Museum, the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt, the Auckland Art Gallery, the Otago Settlers Museum and Rotorua Museum.

Labour will continue its highly successful policy of providing funding for construction and refurbishment of regional museums and galleries with collections of national significance.

We believe it is the role of central government to promote a partnership approach with local authorities to support the cultural wellbeing of local communities.

Labour will support increased funding for the Creative Communities Scheme administered by Creative New Zealand in partnership with local and regional councils, and increase funding for local festivals.

The Aotearoa People’s Network, a programme of providing free access to broadband internet services in public libraries, has been a significant development which offers potential for regional cultural and heritage development.

The access portal is designed with the intention that all New Zealanders can benefit from creating, accessing and experiencing digital content, and to support local communities to add their own cultural and local heritage content.

Labour will continue to support the roll-out of the Aotearoa People’s Network throughout New Zealand, especially to small and rural communities.  

Labour will work to promote growth in culture and heritage regionally and provide sustainable funding to regional cultural organisations.

Education, Industry Training and Research

It is essential for the development of our cultural sector, and for our young people’s wellbeing, that young New Zealanders’ talents are fostered and they are inspired by the contribution the arts make to New Zealand’s national identity and economy.

Labour has continued to develop and resource the arts, music and creative curriculum in New Zealand schools so that young people have the opportunity to participate in the arts and establish creative skills at an early stage.

The Artists in Schools Programme was implemented in 2007 to give Kiwi primary and secondary school students the opportunity to learn from professional New Zealand artists in the fields of dance, drama, music, and visual arts.

The cultural sector continues to be a strong area of employment for New Zealanders. The Pathways to Arts and Cultural Employment (PACE) scheme has assisted job seekers to develop careers in the arts and creative industries. By the end of June 2008, this programme had seen a total of 3,457 clients placed in employment.

We believe it is important to ensure the long-term sustainability of the cultural sector through investment in tertiary education and professional development for artists, and a strategic focus on areas of anticipated future growth.

Labour will boost the skills capacity of the Kiwi creative sector – the first step will be to conduct a thorough survey of the technical and operational skills we have to identify areas in which we need to foster new talent.

We believe it is important that films, television programmes and music that have been funded by public organisations are freely available to New Zealanders for the purpose of study or historical research. We have reviewed accessibility of this archived material and begun a programme to streamline the way audiovisual content is archived.

Labour will ensure that publicly-funded films, television programmes and music can be accessed by other New Zealanders for the purpose of study and research, and further develop mechanisms for archiving audiovisual programmes.

Labour is committed to looking ahead and planning for a vibrant cultural sector for the future. We will increase the range of educational, skills development and research opportunities to ensure arts, culture and heritage is accessible to the next generation of creative Kiwis.

Honouring our Unique History and Heritage

Labour believes that knowing and understanding our past and conserving our historic heritage is a critical part of establishing a strong sense of national identity. It is important we tell the stories of our nation’s history, and that places of significance are preserved for future generations.

We have given strong support for the work of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust over the past nine years. Labour has provided more funding to enable the trust to maintain and promote its properties and to work better with local councils and private owners to preserve heritage areas.

A national heritage preservation incentive fund was set up to encourage the preservation of privately-owned and nationally-significant heritage properties that would otherwise be in danger of neglect or demolition.

Special objects and taonga also play an important role in our heritage, so we have protected these items by updating the antiquities legislation.

We have recognised that investment in protection of our historic heritage also has important economic spin-offs. Iconic sites support heritage tourism, bringing visitors to regions throughout New Zealand and encouraging them to stay and explore our unique history. It has been important to support the Historic Places Trust to link sites to create heritage trails.

A significant step forward over the last 10 years has been getting some of our top heritage locations on-track towards receiving international recognition as world heritage sites. We have developed an initial list of New Zealand sites for consideration by international authorities.

Big restoration projects have been completed, such as the construction of the Kerikeri Heritage Bypass designed to protect the historic Kemp House and the Stone Store from flooding and from vibrations caused by heavy traffic flows.

We will continue to support the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in its essential work on behalf of all New Zealanders.

Labour will work with local government, heritage organisations and across central government to develop a National Policy Statement on Heritage under the Resource Management Act.

In recent years there has been an encouraging resurgence of interest in our nation’s history, including the personal histories of individuals.

There is a growing demand by New Zealanders young and old to express their national identity on occasions like Anzac Day and Waitangi Day. There is increasing interest in New Zealand’s involvement in the conflicts of the twentieth century, and a recognition that significant aspects of our heritage and identity depend on the sacrifice made by others during times of war.

We have commemorated the special relationship between the United Kingdom and New Zealand with the establishment of a memorial in Hyde Park, London, and dedicated a New Zealand memorial in the United Nations War Cemetery in Pusan, Korea recognising the service of 6,000 New Zealanders who fought in the Korean War. The New Zealand Memorial in Canberra and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington have also been major heritage projects.

The 2008 tribute to Viet Nam Veterans was a significant acknowledgement of those who lost their lives in Viet Nam and an opportunity show our appreciation to those who served.

As a focus for Kiwi families’ remembrance of the sacrifice made by former generations of New Zealand servicemen and women, preparations have begun for a New Zealand Memorial Park adjacent to the National War Memorial in Buckle St, Wellington.

Labour will complete the New Zealand Memorial Park project.

Over the last decade, growth in technology has offered us much greater opportunities to record, preserve and protect our records and heritage material. We have been committed to embracing these new technologies to create opportunities for Kiwi families and young people to better access our unique history. We have developed significant online projects such as the award-winning digital encyclopaedia of New Zealand, www.teara.govt.nz .

The challenge for the next decade is to harness the opportunities offered by digitisation to make our heritage available and accessible to more New Zealand families, and to ensure the technology we use is compatible with future developments.

Labour will increase funding to speed up critical digitisation of heritage collections across New Zealand so existing collections are available online as quickly as possible.

We see exciting opportunities for New Zealand families to learn about their own history and whakapapa and develop a rich appreciation of the contribution their families and communities have made to this country.

Labour will explore how to give New Zealand families better access to the wealth of cultural and heritage material relating to them that is held by public institutions, so that New Zealanders young and old can learn about the stories of their past.

We will build the National Library up to be a virtual and actual hub where all New Zealanders have good access to New Zealand’s documentary heritage, and can use that information across their work, leisure and community lives.

We have seen the importance of recording New Zealand’s oral histories so that the rich history of our stories can be preserved for future generations. A large-scale programme of recording oral history has been established and content made available online to all New Zealanders through the oral history website ‘From Memory’ on www.NZhistory.net.nz .

Labour will continue the extensive work programme within the Ministry of Culture and Heritage on New Zealand history projects, with a focus on further collection of oral histories, particularly from more isolated regions.

We are aware that we need to ensure that consistent archive systems are in place for archiving our historical material, both nationally and internationally. It is important, too, that these are systems all communities can access and contribute to.

Labour will continue to support Archives NZ, the NZ Film Archive, as well as public and private galleries, libraries, archive organisations and museums to work collaboratively to develop a smart and consistent approach to archiving cultural materials nationally and in the community.

Labour will ensure our New Zealand heritage is protected and cherished for the benefit of all New Zealanders.
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Authorised by: Mike Smith, 73 Brougham Street, Wellington    The New Zealand film industry’s achievements highlight talent and opportunities for growth in areas of specialist technical ability, post-production and digital animation. For example, a number of high tech Kiwi companies were established to develop digital and software solutions for the Lord of the Rings movies. Labour recognises that investment in industry training and skills development is vital to ensure the success of New Zealand film into the future.

Supporting New Zealand Music

Labour believes there are clear cultural and economic gains from a strong domestic music industry. Our commitment to significant investment in the New Zealand music industry has brought steady growth.

In 2001, only 6 percent of monthly album sales were by New Zealand musicians. But through initiatives like the highly successful New Zealand Music Month and support for the New Zealand Music Commission, our home-grown artists now make up around 20 percent of album sales. Support for implementation of a voluntary quota of New Zealand music on radio has also meant radio play of New Zealand content has risen by a similar amount and now averages at about 20 percent of airplay.

Under Labour, a major focus has been supporting our musicians to expand into overseas markets. The international market development programme undertaken through the New Zealand Music Commission has been successful in getting kiwi music repertoire and artists into global markets.

Labour will continue to support the successful Outward Sound programme to assist New Zealand artists to become export-ready so we: