AustLit

'In 2006 I wrote one of the early Platform Papers (No. 7) under the title Does Australia Need a Cultural Policy? I was prompted to ask this question because it was then twelve years since the appearance of Australia’s first (and only) cultural policy, the document Creative Nation: Commonwealth Cultural Policy (October 1994) produced by the Keating Government. In the interim, following the Labor Party’s defeat at the 1996 election, we experienced ten years of John Howard’s prime ministership. Howard led a conservative administration that effectively buried Creative Nation when it came into office and subsequently showed no interest in formulating a cultural policy of its own.' (Publication summary)

'The Australian book industry is in a state of considerable agitation as it waits to see if the federal government will scrap the parallel import restrictions of the Copyright Act.'

'Lifting the restrictions has been recommended by the Harper Committee and the Productivity Commission, and a decision could come next week, next month, or never. ...'

The Australian Book Industry: Authors, publishers and readers in a time of change is a three-year research project funded by the Australian Research Council and Macquarie University.

The project investigates:

• Authors and their responses to changing circumstances
• Book publishers and the ways in which they contribute economic, social and cultural value; and
• Practices of contemporary book readers.

'Culture, writes David Throsby, refers to beliefs and values that bind us together. And if we know what our culture is, why would we need a cultural policy? ... A cultural policy would be a powerful tool with which to show what we really value about being Australian. A national debate, to define and assert our common values could well alleviate the fears at present dividing us.' (Publisher's blurb.)