Minister for the Arts (New South Wales)

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Minister for the Arts
Coat of Arms of New South Wales.svg
Incumbent
Ben Franklin
since 21 December 2021 (2021-12-21)
Department of Premier and Cabinet
StyleThe Honourable
AppointerGovernor of New South Wales
Inaugural holderGeorge Freudenstein
Formation11 March 1971

The New South Wales Minister for the Arts is a Minister of the Crown in the New South Wales Government who has responsibilities for the administration and support for the arts in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The portfolio was abolished in 2019 and merged into the portfolio of Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts;[1] and reinstated in December 2021.

The current Minister for the Arts is The Honourable Ben Franklin MLC, who also serves as the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and as the Minister for Regional Youth, appointed with effect from 21 December 2021.[2] The minister assists the lead portfolio minister, the Deputy Premier, Paul Toole who was appointed with effect from 6 October 2021.[3] Together the ministers administer the portfolio through Create NSW (formerly Arts NSW) within the Department of Premier and Cabinet, as well as a range of additional government agencies.

Ultimately, the minister is responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.

Office history[]

The role of an 'arts' minister, overseeing the management and support for all cultural activities in New South Wales, before the early 1970s was an unheard of concept in politics. However, by the early 1970s, various governments in Australia recognised the need for a steering authority for state support for the arts. In response, premier Bob Askin appointed George Freudenstein as the first Minister for Cultural Activities on 11 March 1971. This coincided with the appointment of the first federal minister with a responsibility for the arts on 10 March and a Minister for Cultural Affairs in Western Australia on 3 March 1971. Premier of Victoria Rupert Hamer commissioned himself with a ministry of the arts in 1972 and South Australia followed suit on 18 September 1979.

On his appointment Freudenstein requested the establishment of an organisation to enable him to carry out his responsibilities and the Premier agreed. On 13 May 1971 the "Ministry of Cultural Activities" was established, taking over responsibility for various legislation and bodies that had previously been under the purview of the Department of Education, including the , Art Gallery of New South Wales, State Library of New South Wales, Australian Museum, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney Observatory, the Advisory Committee on Cultural Grants, NSW Film Council, and the Sydney Opera House Trust. In the case of the opera house, the Ministry had responsibility for its completion and final official opening on 20 October 1973.[4] With Freudenstein's departure on 3 January 1975, a new Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation was appointed and on 6 January 1975, the Ministry of Cultural Activities was replaced by the new "Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation".[5]

This arrangement lasted until 14 May 1976 when the new Labor Government of Neville Wran transferred the responsibility for cultural activities to the Premier's Department. This became the "Cultural Activities Division" under the administration of the Premier himself.[5] This situation continued until 1984, when Wran established the "Office of the Minister for the Arts" within the Premier's Department and commissioned himself with the title of Minister for the Arts. On 15 June 1988 a "Ministry for the Arts" independent of the Premier's Department was established.[6] This ministry was abolished on 3 March 2006 and its responsibilities were moved to the new "Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation".[7] Arts NSW became the new dedicated division for the Minister and it transferred to "Communities NSW" in July 2009 and then the "Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services" from 4 April 2011.[8] From the appointment of Troy Grant as the minister in 2014 (who also served as Minister for Justice and Police), Arts NSW came within the Justice Department.

Following the 2019 state election the portfolio responsibilities were transferred to the Premier and Cabinet cluster, with Create NSW (formerly Arts NSW) administered through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, a department of the Government of New South Wales.[1]

List of ministers[]

The following individuals have serviced as Ministers for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts, or any precedent titles:

Minister Party affiliation Ministerial title Term start Term end Time in office Notes
George Freudenstein Country Minister for Cultural Activities 11 March 1971 3 January 1975 3 years, 298 days [9]
John Barraclough Liberal Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation 3 January 1975 23 January 1976 1 year, 20 days
David Arblaster 23 January 1976 14 May 1976 82 days
Neville Wran Labor Minister for the Arts 10 February 1984 4 July 1986 2 years, 144 days [9]
Frank Walker 4 July 1986 21 March 1988 1 year, 261 days
Peter Collins Liberal 25 March 1988 4 April 1995 7 years, 10 days
Bob Carr Labor 4 April 1995 3 August 2005 10 years, 121 days
Bob Debus 3 August 2005 2 March 2007 1 year, 211 days
Frank Sartor 2 April 2007 5 September 2008 1 year, 156 days
Nathan Rees 8 September 2008 4 December 2009 1 year, 87 days
Virginia Judge 8 December 2009 28 March 2011 1 year, 116 days
George Souris National 3 April 2011 23 April 2014 3 years, 20 days
Troy Grant 23 April 2014 30 January 2017 2 years, 282 days
Don Harwin Liberal 30 January 2017 23 March 2019 (2019-03-23) 5 years, 3 days [10][11][12]
Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations,
Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts 		2 April 2019 (2019-04-02) 15 April 2020 [13][14]
Gladys Berejiklian
(acting) 		15 April 2020 (2020-04-15) 3 July 2020 (2020-07-03) 79 days [15][16]
Don Harwin 3 July 2020 (2020-07-03) 21 December 2021 (2021-12-21) 1 year, 171 days [17]
Ben Franklin National Minister for the Arts 21 December 2021 (2021-12-21) incumbent 43 days [2]

Former ministerial titles[]

Assistant Ministers[]

Minister Party affiliation Ministerial title Term start Term end Time in office
Bob Debus Labor Minister Assisting the Premier on the Arts 13 March 1996 2 April 2003 7 years, 20 days
Frank Sartor 2 April 2003 3 August 2005 2 years, 123 days
Virginia Judge Labor Minister Assisting the Premier on the Arts 8 September 2008 4 December 2009 1 year, 87 days

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order 2019 [NSW] (159)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 April 2019. p. 7-8. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Parliament, Ministerial, Courts and Police (662)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 21 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Parliament, Ministerial, Courts and Police (508)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Ministry of Cultural Activities". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Ministry for the Arts". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Arts NSW". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  9. ^ a b Part 10 Officers of the Parliament (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  10. ^ "NSW reshuffle: Gladys Berejiklian axes Adrian Piccoli and Duncan Gay from cabinet". The Guardian. Australia. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  11. ^ Robertson, James (28 January 2017). "Anthony Roberts, Brad Hazzard take key roles in Gladys Berejiklian reshuffle". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Refreshed NSW cabinet sworn in". Sky News. Australia. AAP. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  13. ^ "Government Notices (30)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 April 2019. p. 1088-1090. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  14. ^ "NSW Arts Minister resigns after breaking coronavirus lockdown rules". ABC News. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Ministers and Public Service Agencies) Order 2020" (PDF). 15 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  16. ^ Wake, Caroline (7 May 2020). "Carriageworks was in trouble before coronavirus - but this crisis could be an opportunity". The Conversation. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  17. ^ "NSW Police boss hits back after former Arts minister Don Harwin gets off coronavirus fine". ABC News. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
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