Cultural wars in an Australian context: challenges in developing a national cultural policy.

In March 2013, the Australian Federal Labor Government releasedCreative Australia. This document was described as the first national Cultural Policy statement in 20 years since the publication by a previous Labor Government ofCreative Nationin 1994. However, within 6 months of the launch of this new policy, a Coalition (Conservative) Federal government was elected in September 2013. Up till now, Coalition Governments have rejected the need for a national cultural policy, so the future forCreative Australiamay in fact be both contested and limited. Indeed, during the previous Federal Coalition Government a ‘cultural war’ erupted between the government and artists and intellectuals, over the latter’s desire for an Australian cultural policy. This paper addresses questions around the process of developing this new national cultural policy, why it occurred, and what future it might have now there is a new Coalition Federal Government in power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]