Point of Order: The art of bragging about govt money being well spent.....

.....while requiring us to turn elsewhere for the dollar details

The benefits that have flowed from pouring public funds into the arts is the subject of one of two new statements posted on the government’s official website in the past 24 hours or so.

This statement has been released by Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni, the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, to draw attention to a just-published report which evaluates the economic impact of the Government’s investment of “almost half a billion dollars” in the arts and culture sector through COVID-19.

Point of Order has yet to read this report, and the minister’s statement does not tell us exactly how much government funding – all up – has been spent on or invested in the sector which has produced those heartening results.

Whatever the sum might be, Sepuloni says it shows “heartening results”, with employment, business and GDP growing in 2022.

Some figures with dollar signs are provided in a Note to Editors at the end of the statement, which can be found HERE-

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Govt investment in arts delivers strong economic results

A new report evaluating the economic impact of the Government’s almost half a billion dollars investment in the arts and culture sector through COVID-19 shows heartening results, with employment, business and GDP growing in 2022.

“Following our Government’s largest-ever investment in the arts, culture and heritage sector in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history, this is pleasing news,” Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni said.

Her statement does not quantify that largest-ever investment, other than mentioning a sum of “almost half a billion dollars”.

She goes on to say:

“We’ve remained steadfast in our commitment to these sectors over the course of the pandemic and as we get through the current cost of living spike. We’ve protected peoples jobs and livelihoods, as well as helped to sustain the important contribution the sector makes to our economy.”

But the numbers do not cover happenings since March last year, a period during which the public was treated to a spat about Creative New Zealand funding decisions.

Arts on Tour NZ, a group that has brought Kiwi performers to small New Zealand towns for nearly 30 years, was obliged to scale back its activities after missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding.

An artist residency run at the former Auckland home of New Zealand painter Colin McCahon and the Shakespeare Globe Theatre of New Zealand, which runs a secondary-school Shakespeare programme, were also dropped from the long-term funding scheme.

The Shakespearean company’s application for $31,000 was declined by Creative New Zealand, which said

“… the proposal did not demonstrate the relevance to the contemporary art context of Aotearoa in this time and place and landscape.”

The company runs the annual Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival, where high schools around the country perform scenes from the Bard’s plays.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stepped in to save the organisation, an intervention which resulted in the Ministry of Education picking up the tab for the Shakespeare Globe Centre to continue running the programme.

But – as we noted earlier – the report released today does not embrace that period of acrimony.

Sepuloni does say a loss of nearly 11,000 jobs in the sector had been forecast (by whom?), but employment actually grew by 4.2 per cent in the 12 months to March 2022. The number of businesses in the cultural sector grew by 8.2 per cent.

“Supported by our Government’s investment, these employment and business results contributed $12.9 billion to our economy’s GDP, a growth of 10.6 per cent compared to 5.3 per cent for the total economy.

“We know the economy has grown strongly and is showing its resilience with the arts and culture sector playing its role to support our wider economic recovery.

“Our Government’s investment has and will continue to see more jobs created. High-level modelling suggests that we will see nearly 1,000 more jobs for the sector and over 1,600 more jobs in the wider economy – these are the flow on effects on employment when the arts and creative sectors are supported to flourish and thrive.”

When COVID-19 hit, the government acted quickly to put in place programmes that could protect and preserve the financial viability of arts and cultural organisations, keep them operating and thriving and create further employment opportunities, Sepuloni said.

“I’m pleased that these programmes have delivered on their purpose.”

It’s of interest to note which programmes she highlighted.

She said the Screen Production Recovery Fund was one example, supporting more than 41 productions to adopt COVID-19 health and safety measures to enable them to maintain operations, and preserving and creating over 2,850 jobs for crew and actors.

Support had also gone directly into the pockets of artists, through the Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund, with nearly 1,300 individual artists receiving financial support.

“The economic and trading outlook for our music industry remains strong too, with 95 per cent of music venues supported by the NZ Music Venue Infrastructure Fund still trading following the pandemic,” Sepuloni said.

“76.5 per cent of venue owners surveyed had also said their venue would not have survived the pandemic without the support of the Government’s NZ Music Venue Infrastructure Fund.

Then we come to details under the heading Editors Notes:

Click here for the Impacts Report 2021/22

• The CRP 21/22 Impacts report uses a programme-wide assessment across multiple initiatives and data and insights methodologies. Findings in the report are based on available data from some initiatives delivered in 21/22, collected through performance and grant monitoring, economic and cultural participation research, and initiative evaluations.
• Economic modelling and programme evidence shows that the Government’s investment has preserved jobs and created new employment and career opportunities

Outcomes:

• Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme—Reimbursement and financial security was provided to thousands of creative and support staff and organisations in the events sector for events affected by COVID-19.
• Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund—Funding was provided to 64 organisations (totalling $3.6 million) and 1,299 individuals (totalling nearly $6.5 million, with individuals receiving $5,000 each).
• Screen Production Recovery Fund—Funding administered by the New Zealand Film Commission supported more than 41 productions to adopt COVID-19 health and safety measures and maintain operations and staffing. This included preserving and creating over 2,850 jobs for crew and actors.
• New Zealand Music Recovery NZ Music Venue Infrastructure Fund—Funding supported more than 680 employees across 70 small venues in 25 towns and cities. Of the venues supported, 95% have continued trading. Of the three venues that closed, two are seeking new premises. 76.5% of venue owners surveyed in May 2022 said their venue would not have survived the pandemic without the support of the fund.
• New Zealand Music Recovery Aotearoa Touring Programme—Funding supported 142 tours by New Zealand artists across 132 towns and cities. This provided income for musicians, music workers and support personnel involved in the delivery of the tours.
• Public Interest Journalism Fund—Funding Rounds 2 and 3 supported 140 new roles and 10 training schemes (six training new cadets and four upskilling existing journalists) to preserve and enhance at-risk public service journalism in newsrooms at the local, regional and national levels. These roles included journalists and reporters, editors, translators and audience engagement staff.
• Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku—More than 180 employment opportunities were supported across the Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kotuku programme. The programme also supported projects that pay fees to artists and other specialist practitioners to ensure continuity of practices and support intergenerational knowledge transmission. Eight internships were created in partnership with Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, the National Library of New Zealand, Archives New Zealand and Te Papa Tongarewa, as well as two internships in partnership with Te Matatini to support preparations for the national kapa haka festival.
• Pasifika Festivals Initiative—Tasi ’21 Wave funding supported 16 festival organisations across 10 regions to remain financially viable and continue operations. This included preserving and creating 56 FTE roles or fixed-term contracts.
• Museum Hardship Fund—Funding covered basic operating costs, staff wages and collection and building maintenance. This included the preservation and creation of 59 staff roles (mostly part-time).
• Creative Spaces (CARE Fund)—Funding supported 54 creative spaces to deliver additional resourcing hours with an average of 0.7 additional new FTEs per year per organisation. This led to a 19% increase in the number of employees across the creative spaces compared to employment numbers pre-funding

It looks like we must turn to the report to establish what those benefits have cost us in each category of funding and to find the grand total.

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton