Culture

Aussie Rapper Illy Has Slammed The Coalition For Cutting Support To Arts Education

It's not the first time the artist has criticised the Liberal party.

by Osman Faruqi  24 October 2016

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Earlier this month the federal government announced pretty massive changes to the way vocational education and training would be funded. Most of the reforms were about protecting students and making it harder for private colleges to rip off the public. But one change has attracted heavy criticism.

The education minister, Simon Birmingham, has decided that most creative arts courses should no longer receive government support in the form of student loans. Only 13 of the 70 previously supported arts programs will still be eligible for government support.

The Federal Government Has Wiped Out Vocational Arts Education In Australia

Craft courses like ceramics, jewellery making and object design will no longer receive government support. Other courses cut off the list include photography, theatre, production design, professional writing and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts.

“Currently there are far too many courses that are being subsidised that are used simply to boost enrolments, or provide ‘lifestyle’ choices, but don’t lead to work,” Birmingham said.

ArtsPeak, the confederation of Australia’s peak national arts organisations, is opposed to the changes. “Training is just as essential in the arts as in other industries and enables graduates either to establish their own cultural businesses or to be employed by others,” spokesperson Tamara Winikoff said in a statement.

Lots of artists are pretty unhappy with the fact that a federal government minister has described their careers as a “lifestyle choice”. Now ARIA award winning rapper Illy has taken to Twitter to blast the government for its policy decision.

It’s not the first time the artist has criticised the Liberal party.

Today the government released new data showing that private colleges were charging up to five times more than TAFEs for the same courses. In the media release accompanying the data, Birmingham again referred to some courses as “lifestyle choices”.

–

Feature image via Facebook/Illy.