WA Libs, Labor fail to lift funding hopes A PLEA for more generous and detailed arts policy-making in Western Australia fell on deaf ears this week when Liberal and Labor parties turned up empty-handed to an election debate on arts and culture. The Chamber of Arts and Culture WA, an arts industry lobby group and the debate's convenor, had called for both parties to release detailed arts policies in time for Monday's event, titled Get your Arts into Gear. Instead, a 2 1/2 page letter from Labor Opposition Leader Mark McGowan was sent to the chamber at midday, four hours before the debate. And the Barnett Liberal government, which is seeking re-election on March 9, has not yet released its policy. The arts debate, signalled on January 2 when the organisers distributed a wishlist for the arts sector to all political parties, brought together Arts Minister John Day, opposition spokesman John Hyde, Greens MLC Lynn McLaren and Nationals MLC Colin Holt. But few promises and little new detail emerged from the 90-minute moderated forum, attended by artists, administrators, funders and business sponsors who packed into Fringe World's festival spiegeltent in the Perth Cultural Centre. In his opening address, chamber chairman Warwick Hemsley flagged several issues he said required attention: re-introducing indexation for arts companies suffering the effects of resource boom-related inflationary costs; more generous baseline funding for arts bodies; and more bricks-and-mortar investment. But Day couldn't commit beyond the government's current $130 million annual investment, which includes museum, art gallery and library funding. And Hyde said no firm commitments could be made by Labor until they got into office. The Greens supported indexation for project funding of the arts, while the Nationals' pitch referred to Royalties for Regions funds - $16 million over the next four years - for improving regional community life, including cultural events. Plans to redevelop the existing WA Museum attracted the most heated debate. Policy backflips by both parties have resulted in a nearly two-decade delay in housing valuable collections in suitable premises. Day said the Liberal Party remained committed to building a new museum by 2019. "It would be over my dead body that this program doesn't go ahead," he told the forum. Hyde said the former Labor state government's 2008 allocation of $506m to rebuild the museum had been struck out when the Liberals gained power. Yet he confirmed that, as part of its bid to lower state debt, an incoming Labor government would suspend the current museum plan during its first term of government. "But my gut feeling is a Labor government will build it before a Liberal government does," he said. Other issues raised were the high cost of hiring Perth's theatre venues, plus their management by the private sector, and a lack of funding for the state's historic archives. Hemsley, who also chairs the WA Opera and sits on the National Gallery of Australia board, said the inaugural chamber arts debate had offered "for the first time, a public, detailed examination of the parties' funding and commitment to the arts." But he said it was disappointing that neither party had committed to indexation increases. "Companies need to be able to plan, to engage talented people and offer them certainty in their future, and indexation is part of that," he said. We're striving to maintain funding at even present levels. The next change in gear is where we're able to have discussions about visionary moves that can be made in so many areas of arts and culture. That remains a forward body of work.