“It is difficult to evaluate or even quantify our total investment in Auckland’s arts and culture-related amenities, programmes, and events,” Brown said.
“At present, we have multiple funding streams, none of which are sector-specific, and they’re spread across council, council-controlled organisations, and local boards. No decisions have been made yet. It’s important that we hear from the broadest range of Auckland’s diverse communities, and our response has to be proportionate.”
While dollar numbers on proposed budget cuts have already been slated for all of Auckland Council’s CCOs and various departments to fill the $295m hole, it has not yet been clear how much of those CCO cuts would specifically be on arts and culture.
The broad proposed cuts that could have affected arts and culture were: Regional contestable grants - $3m, Regional Services - $20m, Local Board Funding - $16m, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited - $27.5m.
This adds up to $66.5m in cuts. But those different council sectors cover much broader services than just arts, so it has up till now not been clear how much would exactly be slashed.
For example, the Regional Services from which $20m was proposed to be slashed, funds both things like Pacific Arts programming and Unesco City of Music, but it also funds council’s operational homelessness response.
So it was not clear how much funding would actually be stripped from arts projects and facilities.
Brown’s office says Auckland Council Group’s investment in arts and culture is estimated to be at least $130m after the proposed reductions.
So, based on last week’s internal estimate of current arts spending, the Herald has obtained at $166m annually, the Council’s proposed cuts to arts is $36m.
The Mayor’s office said based on advice from council staff, proposed reductions to the above funding streams were among the only viable opportunities to achieve the immediate cost savings needed at this time.
“It’s unfortunate that some of our arts, culture, and community funding streams wound-up on the list of proposed operating cost reductions, due to uncommitted funds and the contractual flexibility in these areas,” Brown said.
“All items in a very limited pool of potential immediate cost savings went to public consultation with the support of the Governing Body. We must be clear on what matters most to all Aucklanders, rather than immediately defaulting to further rates hikes or more borrowing.”
The Auckland arts, and culture advocacy network, Ngā Toi, was established to engage in conversations with central and local government over creative sector spending ever since April 2020 when Covid-19 threatened the livelihoods of so many in the sector.
“We know the impacts will cut not just our sector deeply, but our community and Auckland as a whole. If we lose this funding, it will take a generation to gain it back,” Ngā Toi said in a statement.
“There was kōrero about the ripple effects these proposed cuts would have from a creative economy perspective including on early career pathways, economic impacts on businesses and other financial impacts that are important to be captured in the public submissions. Including these ripple effects and nuances in submissions is incredibly important for Council.”
Auckland Council’s Governing Body has adopted the Consultation Document for Annual Budget 2023/24, which proposes overcoming a forecast shortfall of $295 million through spending cuts, increased rates, asset sales and debt.
This is not including unbudgeted costs for the City Rail Link and recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle and Auckland Anniversary flooding.
“Arts and culture cannot be the sole responsibility of Auckland Council, it’s a shared responsibility. The question we should be asking is, how can we all work together to support arts and culture in ways that are meaningful and more sustainable,” Brown said.
“I was surprised to learn that Auckland, which is home to a third of the country’s population, only received a quarter of Creative New Zealand’s funding.”
On March 1, Brown made a speech at an exhibition opening at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki defending a proposal to cut the council’s contestable funds for cultural events, which turned hostile.
An Auckland Art Gallery adviser claims he was called “baldy” and an “a*** licker” after he stepped in to “defuse” what he called a “hostile” conversation between Mayor Wayne Brown, a The Spinoff journalist, and the writer’s acquaintance.
Brown is reported as saying, “Don’t f***ing come and talk to me,” to Spinoff writer Sam Brooks.
“Write a submission and make it clear that you value it [arts funding],” he said.
When the draft budget was debated at the end of last year, several Auckland Councillors said they were especially concerned about community and arts funding.
“You look at what is proposed to be cut and it is always communities,” said councillor Josephine Bartley, who represents Maungakiekie-Tāmaki. “Why is that? This budget shows that we undervalue the arts, we undervalue culture, and what is going on there?”
Festivals like Diwali, Japan Day and Polyfest are now at risk. “All of these things,” she said, “are the diversity of this city, the thing that makes this city great.”
