The McLeay Report: Throwing out the baby with the bathwater?
Shooting the Pianist: The Role of Government in the Arts [edited by Philip Parsons (Sydney, Currency Press, 1987). rrp $7.95] is neither an historical account of arts funding in Australia nor an argument for a specific direction in future funding policy. Rather, it takes the form of a dossier of materials drawn from "The Mcleay Report" (Patronage, Power and the Muse), responses to the Report from the Australia Council and various extracts from the proceedings of a one-day seminar, "The Future of Government in the Arts", held by the Australian Theatre Studies Centre at the University of New South Wales in October 1986.
The collection is edited by the director of the Australian Theatre Studies Centre, Philip Parsons, who also provides an introduction to the issues. Parsons' hope is that the material col lected in the book will play a useful role in the current debate, by outlining some of the arguments for and against some of the most significant recommendations of the Mcleay Report; the devolution of various responsibilities from the Australia Council Boards to state and local authorities; separate funding of the Australia Council's three major clients; additional community representation on Council and Boards; shifts in the relationship between Council and the Minister; and the need to reduce the costs of the 'administrative' aspects of Council and the Boards.
Parsons quite clearly takes a partisan position in favour of the maintenance of the Australia Council in its present general form. He highlights some of the more cynical, philistine and just plain silly aspects of the Mcleay Report, not the least of which is its title. Such an unobjective stance is quite proper under the circumstances, given that Shooting