Some of our finest cultural institutions have been hijacked by political activists. Captive audiences have been subjected to political activism while artists have used their taxpayer and subscriber-funded platforms to advance their personal political agendas. Such political activism has severely damaged the arts in Australia. And the lack of swift action by the leaders of these institutions means the damage will be difficult to repair in the foreseeable future.

In September, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra thought it appropriate to publicly support the Voice and to urge their audiences to follow suit. Next, some members of the Sydney Theatre Company’s The Seagull cast thought it would be appropriate to wear, in the words of Hugo Weaving’s son, ‘traditional keffiyeh in protest against the genocide in Gaza and ongoing occupation of Palestine’.

In both cases, little was done to reassure audiences that these out-of-character actions by the institutions would cease. For the Sydney Theatre Company, the board is already imploding, and some funders have refused future funding. This is hardly surprising given that the catalyst to the conflict was the October 7 attack on Israel conducted by Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation.

I daresay the artists who have claimed that Israel is committing genocide have no idea that Hamas and its associated military organisations numbered some 30,000 to 40,000 troops at the time of the terrorist attacks on Israel. With the population of Gaza at around 2.2 million people, this is the equivalent of the Australian Regular Army as a proportion of the population of Brisbane.

Numerous journalists have reinforced Hamas’ geopolitical narrative while arguably compromising their impartiality in reporting on the conflict. No journalist worth their salt rushes to report on breaking news with dodgy information, but it is apparent that journalistic standards have been declining for some time. With the United States discussing its own independent intelligence findings recently, there is clearly more to the story. Which brings me back to the arts in Australia. Why are artists so cocksure about global geopolitics?

I love the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO). My fondest memory is being in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall while my favourite living composer, John Adams, conducted the SSO (with elements of his own orchestra and the Grand Organ!) for Respighi’s Pines of Rome. The SSO percussionist who played the triangle (I kid you not) was so enthusiastic he uplifted the audience. Members of the brass section burst through the side doors as the aural architecture built into a crescendo that left the audience gobsmacked. It was brilliant.

In Seoul recently I attended Korean pianist Minsoo Hohn’s recital of Rachmaninoff’s Études-Tableau, Op.33 and Études-Tableau, Op.39. Incidentally, Respighi orchestrated these two pieces with Rachmaninoff’s blessing. During Hohn’s performance, he didn’t speak a word yet left me inspired with a solo performance that enthralled the audience in Seoul’s Lotte Concert Hall. He was called back for several encores before the audience would let him leave. Not a word about politics, all pure talent, and an uplifting experience that was worth every cent.

Imagine being a descendant of Holocaust survivors and having to sit through a performance where the artists were in-your-face and supporting Hamas? And later they referred to Israel as conducting ‘genocide’ when retaliating for the most cowardly of attacks upon innocent civilians?

Australian artists, most of whom have never earnt a blister from a crowbar nor have trouble walking around because their knees and backs are shot from carrying a soldier’s pack for years on end, suddenly have the courage to give de facto support to a proscribed terrorist organisation?

I would not want to pay a cent for such rot. And neither should Australian audiences.

Australian artists have become too complacent about the support provided by taxpayers and donors. Unlike in the US where philanthropy is the major contributor to the arts, in Australia, it is the public purse that keeps the arts going.

But artists are increasingly out of touch with the people who support them. This was most evident with the SSO’s support for the Voice, and more recently with the Sydney Theatre Company’s pro-Palestinian debacle. Are these same artists aware that the majority of people who fund them by paying taxes never get to see their performances because the tickets are too expensive?

And it is not just high art. Most of my favourite Australian bands came out in support of the Voice and now I can’t stand them. If it wasn’t for Angry Anderson who saw through the war on free speech, I would be out of Australian bands I could listen to. Thank God for Rose Tattoo, who sums up the current state of the arts in Australia: ‘But there’s a law for the rich, and a law for the poor, and I’m just a workin’ man…’ The arts might heed such a warning from their traditional supporters.

It will take Australian artists some time to repair the trust a small minority have broken. In the meantime, the damage has been done. Rolling out the green-left trope is the most anti-intellectual thing and Australian artists deserve whatever response their audiences and funders dish out to them. But it is a national shame that could have been easily avoided, and we are worse off for the actions of the militant few.