On 11 May 2011 Mr Bob Brown, leader of the Greens Party in the Senate, supported by Deputy Leader Ms Christine Milne, proposed Motion No. 228:
That the Senate opposes the Government's move to impose an efficiency dividend on Australia's cultural institutions such as the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of Australia.
The 5 Greens Party representatives voted in favour of the motion:
1. Brown (Bob) - Tasmania
2. Hanson-Young - South Australia
3. Ludlam - Western Australia
4. Milne - Tasmania
5. Siewert – Western Australia
The remaining 36 Senators in attendance from Labor, Liberal, National and Independent Parties voted against the motion:
LABOR
1. Bilyk – Tasmania
2. Bishop – Western Australia
3. Brown (Carol) – Tasmania
4. Cameron – New South Wales
5. Crossin – Northern Territory
6. Farrell – South Australia
7. Forshaw – New South Wales
8. Hurley – South Australia
9. Hutchins – New South Wales
10. Ludwig – Queensland
11. McEwen – South Australia
12. McLucas – Queensland
13. Moore – Queensland
14. O’Brien – Tasmania
15. Polley – Tasmania
16. Pratt – Western Australia
17. Sterie – Western Australia
18. Wortley – South Australia
NATIONALS
19. Williams – New South Wales
LIBERAL
20. Bernardi – South Australia
21. Birmingham – South Australia
22. Boyce – Queensland
23. Cash – Western Australia
24. Bushby – Tasmania
25. Cormann – Western Australia
26. Ferguson – South Australia
27. Fifield – Victoria
28. Fisher – South Australia
29. Humphries – Australian Capital Territory
30. McGauran – Victoria
31. Parry – Tasmania
32. Payne – New South Wales
33. Troeth – Victoria
34. Trood – Queensland
FAMILY FIRST
35. Fielding – Victoria
INDEPENDENT
36. Xenophon – South Australia
This result comes in the wake of the Report of the Review of the Measures of Agency Efficiency [download] (public release 21 April 2011), which rejects the main finding of the 2008 inquiry that smaller agencies (such as the National cultural institutions) are adversely affected by these annual budget cuts, temporarily imposed in 1987. [1]
The 2008 inquiry report entitled The Efficiency Dividend and Small Agencies: Size Does Matter [download] recommends exempting the first $50 million of appropriations from all agencies, or all agencies that have departmental expenses of less than $150 million – with the exception of departments of state.
Nevertheless, arts body the Australia Council which has a budget of >$150 million and is also under Minister Crean’s Arts Portfolio has been granted a 55% exemption from the efficiency dividend - for Major Performing Arts organisations. [2]
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[1] For a table of dividend percentages since 1987 see K. van Barneveld, 2009, Australia’s Cultural Institutions and the Efficiency Dividend: Not a Pretty Picture [download] in Public Space, the Journal of Law and Social Justice, Volume 3, Article 5, pp 1-28. For 2011-2013 the efficiency dividend rate has increased from 1.25% to 1.50%.
Relevant newspaper articles in The Canberra Times are: 'Efficiency dividend ineffective, audit finds', 26 April 2011 by Bianca Hall, and 'Wong takes the easy, lazy exit' [download] 23 April 2011 by Jack Waterford.