An Investigation of the Dynamics of Cultural Policy Formation

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF CULTURAL POLICY FORMATION: The States’ Patronage of Film Production in Australia 1970–1988 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Thomas Vincent O’Donnell, MA S9400063K School of Applied Communication Portfolio of Design and Social Context RMIT University Melbourne December 2005 ii AN INVESTIGATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF CULTURAL POLICY FORMATION: The States’ Patronage of Film Production in Australia 1970–1988 Declaration by Candidate I, Thomas Vincent O’Donnell, candidate for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, declare as follows: 1. Except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the candidate alone; 2. The work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; 3. The content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; 4. Any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged. Thomas Vincent O’Donnell 30 December 2005 iii Abstract In Australia, the decades of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were times of a great nationalist revival and cultural self-discovery. In the visual arts, theatre, popular and classical music, and especially in cinema and television, a distinct Australian voice could be heard that was accepted as culturally valid and nationally relevant. The renaissance of local production for cinema and television was reliant on the patronage of the state, first the Commonwealth government with the establishment of the Australian Film Development Corporation and the Experimental Film and Television Fund in 1970 and, later, the Australian Film and Television School. Then from 1972 to 1978 each Australian state established a film support agency to extend that patronage and assure the state of a role in the burgeoning film industry. This thesis relates the stories of the creation and development—and in some cases demise—of those six state film agencies over the period 1970 to 1988. It identifies the influences that directed the creation of each state agency and proposes a qualitative model of the relationships between the influences. It then argues the applicability of the model to the formation of cultural policy in general in a pluralistic democratic society. It also argues that the state film agencies were more influential on national film industry policy than has hither-too been recognised. iv Jindyworobaksheesh By the waters of Babylon I heard a Public Works official say: ‘A culture that is truly Babylonian Has been ordered for delivery today.’ By the waters of Babylon A quiet noise of subsidies in motion. ‘To a bald or mangy surface we apply Our sovereign art-provoking lotion.’ By the waters of Babylon I heard That art was for the people; but they meant That art should sweeten to the people’s mouth The droppings from the perch of government. James McAuley1 By the waters of Babylon And on screens from coast to coast, Aussies on those silver screens could see Their national reflection financed by decree. With apologies to James McAuley 1 James McAuley, Collected Poems, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1994 v Acknowledgements It is very hard to know where and with whom to start in acknowledgement those who made it possible to undertake and complete this work. To do so requires a comparison of apples, oranges and durians: the evaluation of complexes of content, tastes, topologies and textures. In the rigorous realm of academic attentiveness, pedantic punctuation, logic and clarity of textual locution, and unflinching bullshit detection, all credit must go to my academic supervisors, Associate Professor Judith Smart and Professor Jack Clancy (retired). In particular, Judy has led me some way down the road to becoming comprehensible in meaning and occasionally stylish in prose. Jack has been unfailing in his belief in the value of the work, and both have paid for lunch at every supervisors’ meeting since I started on a Master’s degree in this area eleven years ago. There is vital group of people too numerous to name. Some sixty oral history interviews were used as source material. I conducted all but a few of those interviews: most of the rest were drawn from the National Film and Sound Archive. One came courtesy of the late Ian Stocks. Everyone approached to be interviewed agreed and some were quite forthright in their comments. I am grateful for the frankness of all those interviewees and for the assistance of the staff of the National Film and Sound Archive, especially Zsuzsi Szucs. Some of the interviewees also provided documents from their personal collections. The first three and a half years of this research were supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award and the balance of the time by the savings accumulated during two years on the staff of RMIT University. I am grateful to both institutions for their support. Family, friends and colleagues have been most supportive. I am certain that they could not be any less pleased than I am that that this work is now complete and a new phase of life may begin. Most important, I hope that these findings will help re-animate the Australian film industry and aid the rediscovery of Australia’s national cultural purpose, both of which, like the moon past full, have waned in the past decade. vi AN INVESTIGATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF CULTURAL POLICY FORMATION: The States’ Patronage of Film Production in Australia 1970–1988 CONTENT Page INTRODUCTION 1 The Culture of Cultural Policy Structure of the thesis PART ONE CHAPTER ONE Locating the State 5 The State and Power The Political State The Economic State The Cultural State The Cultural State and Social Control Expansion of the Cultural State The Australian Cultural State The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust The Australian Council for the Arts United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation The Ownership of Patronage The Australian Cultural State of the 1970s CHAPTER TWO Cinema and State 37 A Problem with Federation The Royal Commission of 1927–28 A Challenge to the Australian States Other Regulatory Interests of the States The Production of Films for Governments The Australian National Film Board The Coming of Television The Vincent Report Film and Television as Cultural Production The Tariff Board Report The Industries Assistance Commission Report Socialising the risk: State Participation in Film Patronage vii PART TWO CHAPTER THREE South Australia 65 A Plank in the Platform The Feasibility Study The South Australian Film Corporation Act Lord Willis of Chislehurst The Corporation as Commercial Producer Financial Cocktails and Headaches Television The Advent of Division 10BA The New Studios Moving On The Odd Couple The Limits of Commerciality External Relations Exit John Morris CHAPTER FOUR Victoria 99 The ‘Theft’ of Hanging Rock ‘Film in Victoria: An Industry Overview—1975’ Influences The Victorian Film Corporation Ross Dimsey Terence McMahon The Boom Years Production Liaison Division The Decline of Division 10BA The Guard Changes Independent Again CHAPTER FIVE Queensland 125 The Power of Words Precursors and the Burne Dynasty Johannes Bjelke-Petersen Queensland’s Cultural Revolution Platform to Policy A Larger Agenda A Crucial Year The Queensland Film Corporation Comparisons with Interstate Models Up and Running Princess Pushy The Mechanic The New Chairman Expansion Financial Growth Too Much of a Good Thing viii The Queensland Day Committee Hendricus (Hank) Coblens Judith Anne Callaghan Allen Lindsay Callaghan I Parliament Resumes Allen Lindsay Callaghan II Allen Lindsay Callaghan—Epilogue Helen Diane Sweeney A Tale of Two Williams The Gold Coast Studio Finis CHAPTER SIX New South Wales 193 The Interim New South Wales Film Commission Legislative Echoes The New South Wales Film Corporation The Australian Films Office I A Report to the Premier The Australian Films Office II The Public Accounts Committee The Commission of Inquiry into the Distribution and Exhibition of Australian Films in New South Wales The Independent Commission against Corruption Conclusion CHAPTER SEVEN Tasmania 229 Contrasts and Codas A Pseudonymous Start to Reform R.D. Barnes, Manager, 1967–77 The Ascendancy of the Old Guard Gil Brealey’s Report R.D. Barnes’ Response The Recommendations Malcolm Smith Unfulfilled Promises Crisis: Closure or Sale Conclusion John Honey ix CHAPTER EIGHT Western Australia 267 Private Beginnings The Swan River Colony Looking Outwards The Western Australian Film Council I Jo O’Sullivan Perth Institute of Film and Television Alan Bond The Western Australian Film Council II Brian Williams The Western Australian Film Council III A Rich Vein of Reports The Ann MacBeth Review More Reports ScreenWest PART THREE CHAPTER NINE A Model of Cultural Policy 305 Models of Influence: Communication Theory Models of Influence: Arts & Cultural Policy Economic Factors: General Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Economic Factors: Specific Agents of Influence: General John Maynard Keynes H. C. Coombs: The Agent’s Apprentice Dr H. V. Evatt, Mary Alice Evatt and Sam Atyeo Coombs and Keynes: The Cultural Legacy Coombs in Australia Agents of Influence: Specific Culture Producers & the Cognoscenti: General Groups: Large and Small Ad Hoc Groups Continuing Professional Groups Continuing Industrial Groups Culture Producers & the Cognoscenti: Specific Policy-makers, Administrators & Politicians: General The Australian Film Commission The Australia Council for the

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