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NSW Labor has promised to redress a funding divide stretching between the harbour and the Blue Mountains that splits the city between the arts’ haves and have-nots – spending $5 million to fund a new home-grown festival for western Sydney and other new projects.
The government’s three-year strategic plan for the region is to be announced at a gathering of the region’s arts leaders at Blacktown Arts Centre on Tuesday.
With support, Western Sydney could be a powerhouse for arts – seeding creatives such as Mount Druitt’s Garage Graphix.Credit: Blacktown Arts
Front and centre of the new funding plans is development of a home-grown festival celebrating the region’s diversity and creative spirit that could potentially rival Vivid, South by Southwest Sydney, or even the Sydney Festival.
Campbelltown’s Fisher’s Ghost Festival and Parramatta Lanes are among the region’s longest-running festivals, while Parramasala, celebrating south Asian arts, was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID and has yet to return. In opposition, Labor asserted Parramasala should be funded ahead of the Logies.
“In short, the vision is to create a thriving and inclusive creative ecosystem in western Sydney that celebrates its diverse communities, drives cultural innovation and delivers social and economic value for everyone,” Arts Minister John Graham will say.
“To get there the key priorities are unlocking investment, putting First Nations’ culture at the centre, growing creative careers, strengthening creative ecosystems, better showcasing off western Sydney artists, and unlocking more cultural spaces.”
The exotic and colourful Parramasala festival should have been supported over the Logies, Labor said.Credit: Edwina Pickles
This week’s launch of the Western Sydney Plan for Arts, Culture and Creative Industries comes 25 years after former premier Bob Carr launched Labor’s first western Sydney cultural strategy in 1999.
The new $5 million funding commitment will be met entirely from cost savings made to Create NSW, the state’s art agency, which is facing the loss of one-quarter of its workforce under a major restructure.
In the first year, $2.15 million will go towards a grant program that will require co-funding from local councils, businesses, universities and philanthropists, effectively doubling specialised funding for small to medium-sized creative businesses.
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Another $2 million would find the “right western Sydney event partner, the right methods and design to deliver an amazing festival for western Sydney”, says Graham.
A further $500,000 will be set aside for five grants of up to $100,000 to First Nations artists and organisations from western Sydney, and $350,000 will help develop a philanthropy strategy to attract more private donation to the artists of western Sydney.
The Minns government came to government in 2023 pledging to repair funding inequity identified by The State of the Arts in Western Sydney report, which called for priority spending in western Sydney.
A 2024 report by Western Sydney University concluded the creative sector in western Sydney has the potential to quadruple, contributing an additional $6.4 billion per annum in economic output, creating over 24,000 new jobs, and further bolstering the region’s position as a leading creative hub.
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But it faced several challenges, including funding disparities, limited infrastructure, a lack of dedicated creative spaces, and underrecognition of the region’s unique strengths.
A second report by the university and Business Western Sydney published in 2023 found just 3.4 per cent of federal funding was spent on western Sydney compared to 23 per cent in eastern Sydney.
Create NSW, the state government’s arts agency, had allocated 7 per cent of its $66 million grants and arts program for the same year to projects in western Sydney, with $48 million or 74 per cent going to eastern Sydney, the rest to regional NSW.
These days, creative and performing arts contribute $124 million to western Sydney’s economy, screen and sound recording ($99 million), and internet publishing ($50 million).
“Western Sydney’s growth trajectory over the last half a century has been incredible,” Graham will say. “When you look at the continued population growth, the arrival of an international airport, landmark infrastructure like the metro and Powerhouse Parramatta, you can see that trajectory is only getting stronger.
“The stories have always been here, an amazing cast has already assembled. It’s now time for more stages and a massive spotlight that shows the world what western Sydney has to offer, and helping local artists reach new audiences.”
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