• Local musos held a flash jam outside Kulcha on Thursday morning to protest the Barnett government’s axing of its funding. Photo by Steve Grant

A LOCAL musician involved with Kulcha from its inception says the knives were out for the multicultural organisation.

Mark Cain, who joined Kulcha in 1983 and has performed innumerable concerts there, dismissed arts minister John Day’s claim the government hadn’t axed its funding.

“It’s clear that behind the scenes the minister has been looking to cut an arts organisation or two,” Cain said.

Last week the Herald revealed an arts department staffer had advised Kulcha’s board it could enter voluntary administration to buy time to deal with a debt (“Kulcha dead”, Herald, February 15, 2014). But the staffer didn’t mention that would signal the end of any state government funding. Kulcha was forced to immediately stop trading.

Cain revealed the debt, more than $100,000, is owed to the tax department. But he pointed to other WA arts organisations such as Buzz Dance, WASO and WA Ballet, saying they received far more funding than Kulcha.

“We’re not saying they shouldn’t get that funding—of course they should—but they should also adequately fund Kulcha,” he said.

Cain has promised to co-ordinate artists and musicians to “swamp” Mr Day’s office with protest letters in an attempt to get Kulcha’s funding reinstated.

“If this government is serious about the arts and supports multiculturalism, they would throw a lifeline to this organisation…”

Fremantle Labor MLA Simone McGurk raised the issue in Parliament this week, describing it as a “disgrace”.

“I still can’t understand how the government can justify advising Kulcha to go into receivership,” Ms McGurk said.

“If this government is serious about the arts and supports multiculturalism, they would throw a lifeline to this organisation and make sure 30 years of experience is not lost.”

Mr Day says there have been no cuts to Kulcha’s funding, with its 2014 allocation 4 per cent higher than in 2012.

“Kulcha is an independent organisation and financial management decisions are the board’s sole responsibility,” Mr Day said.

He said the state government was not the sole source of income for organisations like Kulcha, and what was provided was done on the basis it was used to generate additional cash.

A number of musos who’ve played Kulcha recently said audiences had dropped off.

Cain said he’d noted the fall, but it wasn’t a reflection of Kulcha’s performance, noting it scooped up two national arts awards in the last year.

Local muso Charlie McGee’s band the Formidable Vegetable Sound System has had to move their March 8 Kulcha gig to the Railway Hotel.

McGee has penned a quirky protest song, Where the #$@% is KULCHA!? which has even made it onto national broadcaster JJJ’s Facebook site.

You can catch the song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO4TFGnn3Y4.

by STEVE GRANT