Why the Arts Party Fills Me With Fear

I attended the Queensland Arts Advocacy Group forum on Thursday via webinar. If you’ve read my previous post you’ll know that a mini forum chatters away behind the real life conference, commenting on the speakers and the issues and adding their voice to the on-line forum.
The introduction to the forum supported a bi-partisan (meaning non-political?) approach to arts advocacy, although given that the arts is still reeling from Liberal Govt policies at State and Federal government this might be hard to achieve.
Half way through Thursday’s webinar someone asked ‘how much involvement does the Arts Party have in this group?’ I was wondering the same thing, because in the on-line version of the forum, right from the start, there was an aggressive sell of the Arts Party as THE advocate for the arts. A subtle undermining of the purpose of the forum.
On the surface a party that supports and advocates for creativity, cultural activity, and more arts education and funding might seem a good thing. It’s something I can agree with, something I care about. So what’s wrong with it?
Way back in the 1960’s I joined the Australia Party, and then when it morphed into the Democrats in the 1970’s I campaigned for them too. In the 80’s I joined the fledgling Greens movement. I saw it as a way of recognizing the biggest issue facing the World and giving my support to those who cared about the environment.
The trouble with burning issue parties is that if and when they do get some seats in Parliament they have to broaden policies away from the narrow issues that brought them into existence, especially if they hold the balance of power, or are part of a block that holds the balance of power. A recent example is the Senate Motoring Enthusiast Party member.
Ricky Muir may have set up his party to further the interests of motoring enthusiasts, but by being elected to parliament he is in a position where he has to make decisions on other major issues facing the whole country. The people who voted for him might have thought they were supporting motoring enthusiasts, but in reality they were giving a powerful political position to  a party or a person whose broader views they really didn’t know.
I still care deeply about environmental issues, but I don’t vote Green, because I don’t agree with their stance on many other issues. I’ve come to the conclusion that single issue parties don’t fit well in our political system. We need to either change the system or be more wary of giving power to minority groups and independents.
On the surface the Arts Party looks like a great deal for those who have an interest in lobbying the government about investment and support for the arts. They say they will field Senate candidates at the next election. What then if one or two members are elected?
It’s possible they could hold the balance of power. It’s possible they will be making decisions about budgets, pensions, family payments, defence, infrastructure projects, health, education and foreign policy. But as far as I can see, on their website, they are a single issue party. Which is why I am afraid.