The Independent Scholars Association of Australia (ISAA) recently wrote to the Prime Minister, Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP urging him to reconsider budget cuts to the national cultural institutions.

In a Press Release dated 16 March 2016 the President of ISAA, Dr Christine Jennett said: “ISAA joins other individuals and other community organisations is requesting that the Commonwealth government reconsider these savings.  They only make a small contribution to repairing the Commonwealth budget but will have a grave impact on the cultural life of this nation.

 The National Archives of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Australian Democracy, the National Film and Sound Archive, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Library of Australia are all most important organisations for those working in a wide range of disciplines, including the sciences.

They are much visited and used, and are held in high esteem. Most importantly, these are national institutions, not Canberra institutions, and all Australians are affected when they are insufficiently resourced to fulfil their missions of developing, maintaining, and making accessible nationally significant collections.”