Speech by Councillor Seal Chong Wah
Council Chambers: Program 5 Lifestyle and Community Services BCC budgets 2025/6
Council Chamber: General Business
Tuesday 5th of August, 2025
I rise to speak on the Lifestyle and Community Services budget, arts funding and the Creative Sparks Program.
Due to democratic limitations during the budget debate, I was unable to speak to Program 5, Lifestyle and Community Services. Once again, I want to put on record that the budget material supplied by this LNP administration lacked detail and transparency.
The Creative Sparks grants program is extremely significant to local emerging and independent artists. Local and independent artists are struggling, and calling for this grants program to be expanded with more funding. This funding opportunity only comes around once a year.
Compared to cities like Sydney or Perth where multiple Councils support local festivals and performing arts, this is, according to experienced artists, the only significant competitive funding available for Brisbane at the local level.
Last year, the Creative Sparks grants program awarded around $200,000 to 16 recipients, and the Lord Mayor Fellowship shared $70,000 to 10 recipients — spare change when you consider the City of Sydney, that is one fifth the size of Brisbane City Council, alone awarded close to $600,000 to 30 recipients in their competitive grant round for the 24/25 Financial Year. I can only assume with no detail that the Creative Sparks funding is a similar amount to last year, but I’d love to be provided with actual budget information from this administration.
That’s not a lot of pennies for a $4 billion dollar council budget when you consider the importance of how local artists contribute to our local economy, community health and wellbeing, culture and diversity.
I would like to express congratulations to the lucky, talented artists that received this funding. I know how much effort goes into grants writing submissions, sometimes countless hours spent with little success or compensation.
There is a HUGE gap in local funding for local emerging and independent artists, and the performing arts are struggling! This LNP Council should be increasing funding to support independent artists to build further opportunities.
We only have to point to the recent announcement that Metro Arts has lost all Federal funding for the next four years!! Thank goodness the Metro Arts have some state funding to keep going but this is not sustainable for the future of the Brisbane Art scene.
The Brisbane Festival is a fantastic opportunity for artists but, since they ceased the “Under the Radar” and “Theatre Republic” streams, opportunities in the program appear to only focus on more established artists for a short season in the calendar.
All levels of government are not seeing the writing on the wall! So I am saying it loud and clear here! We need to value and fund the arts at all levels! This Council should be paying attention and playing a bigger role by increasing funding for independent and emerging artists, not just big names.
I spoke to a recent graduate from a major university in Brisbane, who noted that of the around 60 graduates in their cohort, they estimate less than 10 are still trying to work in the arts just three years after graduating — specifically due to a lack of local pathways. If Council continues to underfund our local artists properly, we will continue to see our artists leaving in droves, and soon there will be no-one left to keep this city vibrant.
The other important issue to highlight is not having enough free or affordable spaces for artists to rehearse and perform. Even our beloved and iconic Brisbane Arts Theatre found it incredibly challenging to find a suitable rehearsal and performance space at a reasonable cost.
The Greens advocate to transform local council venues into vibrant hubs for live music, art and hospitality in our suburbs. This is one solution!
So in short, please invest and value our local emerging and independent artists so we can provide a thriving Arts economy that celebrates diversity, culture and creativity and a vibrant society. Additionally, it can alleviate financial burdens on artists, enabling them to develop their skills and careers, and ultimately benefit the wider community through their work.