Letter to students at Devonport High School 1976-84

Dear past students of mine,

Do you remember an old portable record player, a vinyl LP recording of Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose and a classroom at Devonport High School some 30 years ago? A classroom in which your English teacher made you cry, as she herself cried, as we were all transported by Ed Welch's music and Spike Milligan's voice, to the Great Marsh on the Essex coast:

Senator George Brandis has given Australians a glimpse of how Tony Abbott would treat our talented and artistic communities if they form government, Australian Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said.

"Like a deity, George Brandis wants the Australia Council to be reflected in his own image," Senator Milne said.

Greens Leader Christine Milne has reiterated her call to stop taxing iconic arts award winners as this year’s Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser was announced in Canberra today.

“It really takes the shine off winning this wonderful award that Michelle doesn't receive the full value of the prize.

"The Gillard government and Tony Abbott need to get their priorities right – taxing prize money for authors and artists raises very little revenue and makes no sense if we value Australia's artists." Senator Milne said.

Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne is calling for a $10 million boost to the Regional Arts Fund in a move she says will provide a greater social return on investment than general arts funding.

"We know that funding regional arts delivers so much more for the dollar in terms of strengthening communities, but the regional fund was cut in 2008 and it has never recovered.

"Labor's recent National Cultural Policy announcement increased funding to just about all areas except regional arts.

The Coalition has let the extremist cat out of the bag, with Tony Abbott's Liberals pushing plans to privatise the ABC and SBS, the Greens warned today.

"When Parliament resumes the Greens will introduce a motion to test the Coalition's real intentions," Greens communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said today.

Senator Ludlam said the Coalition had dropped its guard and revealed its extremism.

"The Coalition arrogantly assumes it will sail into office regardless of how extreme its policies are. The mask is slipping.

Christine Milne responded to Minister Crean's National Cultural Policy announcement and responded to questions on media reform and Fiji

Subjects: National cultural policy, media reform, Fiji.

CHRISTINE MILNE: The long-awaited cultural policy has at last been unveiled. This is a long time coming and right around Australia people have been looking forward to this day and have been wondering whether it would ever come.

The Australian Greens, in partnership with the trustee of Australia's most prestigious literary prize, The Miles Franklin Award, is calling on the Gillard Government to scrap its policy of taxing iconic arts awards.

"The Gillard Government and the Coalition need to get their priorities right - taxing prize money for authors and artists raises very little revenue and makes no sense if we value Australia's artists." Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said

The Australian Greens are calling on the Gillard Government to increase the location tax offset for films from 16.5 per cent to 30 per cent to ensure Australia becomes the world's premier location for major international film and television production.

This week the Greens received costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office which reveal this initiative will cost $27 million over the forward estimates.

"The PBO costings show this is a small investment for a huge multiplier," Senator Christine Milne said.

Film and creative arts industries create thousands of jobs in Australia and are a critical driver in the transition from a dig it up, cut it down, ship it away economy to the diverse knowledge and information based future that will make us competitive in the 21st century. They must be supported.

"I am very pleased the government has moved to secure the filming and production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but this should not be a one-off," Senator Christine Milne said.