Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Govt Must Compensate Artists, Musicians And Creatives Immediately

Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi has come out swinging against the Government’s lack of response for our creative, arts and music industry in light of the recent red light setting that has seen all summer festivals and large gatherings cancelled.

“The Government has used and abused our artists, musicians and creatives by using them to front vaccination campaigns for the purpose of participation at summer festivals, only to leave them out to dry by cancelling those festivals without a back-up plan to cover the loss they suffer as a consequence,” said Waititi.

“Our musicians, creatives and artists, acting in good faith with the Government the entire time, have been repayed by having their livelihood stripped away from right under their feet within 24 hours and without any adequate support in place. It’s incredibly demoralising and highlights the value the Government places on the industry.

“The Government must act immediately by making relief funds available for our artists and creatives who have lost work due to thet move to Red Light settings,” said Waititi.

Cilla Ruha, Creative Navigator/Māori Music Manager – InDigiNation Music says “It’s disheartening to see that the Government has leveraged the influential might of artists, creatives and musicians to roll out an entire vaccination campaign over summer, only to leave many without the means to feed their whanau following the cancellation of festivals. This callous inaction is the antithesis of the care for community artists have exhibited so bravely to date, to completely loose their trust at this juncture would be catastrophic.”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Similarly, Ria Hall, singer and songwriter, states that “On the basis that our industry and sub sets of the wider live performance and arts industry have been compliant and patient; we are double vaccinated and have participated in Government-led campaigns to encourage vaccination based on festivals over summer as an incentive; the lack of response nearly a week since the announcement is unacceptable.”

“The high uptake of vaccination rates among Rangatahi can be attributed to our musicians and artists who participated in Government led campaigns to increase vaccination uptake to attend summer festivals,” said Waititi.

“In times of desperation and celebration, it is the work of our artists and creatives in Aotearoa that people turn to for inspiration and hope. Their collective influence across the world far outweighs the influence of any political party and that must be recognised.

“For Tangata Whenua, their influence is even more powerful because our Māori creatives are the protectors and projectors of our indigenous voice. They are our academics and are an integral part of the fabric that makes our country Aotearoa,” said Waititi.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Scoop Post Election Podcast: The River Of Freedom Documentary Review

After recording a River of Freedom review the Scoop Political Podcast went into hibernation. Now with a new Government formed it’s time to dust off this forgotten silver and look at the potential impact this documentary, about the Wellington parliamentary protest of 2022 had on Election 23. Watched by potentially tens of thousands of voters in the weeks prior to the election this movie was not likely to have won votes for the then Labour government. More

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More


 
 
ACT: Call To Abolish Human Rights Commission

“The Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second Chief Executive is just the latest example of a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy serving itself at the expense of delivery for New Zealanders,” says ACT MP Todd Stephenson. More


Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.