From: Arts – DLO Burke <dlo.burke@MO.arts.gov.au>
Sent: Monday, April 3, 2023 1:54 PM
To: Burke, Tony <Tony.Burke@MO.arts.gov.au>
Cc: Arts – DLO Burke <dlo.burke@MO.arts.gov.au>
Subject: Trove Saved [SEC=OFFICIAL]
OFFICIAL
Good Afternoon,
You recently wrote to me about funding for Trove – one of Australia’s most significant historical and cultural resources.
Thank you for your correspondence and for your advocacy.
I am pleased to announce that the Albanese Government will secure the long-term funding of Trove, providing certainty for the program and its many users for the first time.
The Australian Government will provide the National Library of Australia with $33 million over four years and crucially, $9.2 million per year in indexed ongoing funding.
As you know, Trove is the single point of entry to the collections of hundreds of Australian libraries, universities, museums, galleries and archives.
It is, in many ways, Australia’s digital memory.
The previous Liberal and National Governments left the future of Trove hanging in the balance, only funding the program to June 2023.
Despite racking up a trillion dollars of debt, the Liberals and Nationals had failed to fund some of our most essential services, including one of the government’s most used online resources. Again, the Albanese Government has been left to clean up the mess left by the Coalition.
Without this funding Trove would simply cease to exist in a few short months – and with that access to much of Australia’s history would be denied to millions of Australians.
The Government’s funding will help restore and maintain our strong cultural infrastructure – a key pillar of Revive, the Government’s new National Cultural Policy.
I have had a strong connection with Trove since it was first established in 2009 under the Rudd Government, and I supported it when I first came into the arts portfolio in 2013.
Whether you’re using Trove to look up family history, or for academic research – it is an incredibly important part of our cultural infrastructure.
Thank you again for the part you’ve played in helping to secure the future of Trove.
Yours sincerely,
The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Minister for the Arts
Leader of The House