Yaron Lifschitz has condemned what he describes as a “government entrenched oligarchy of privilege”.

“We have a two-stream arts sector,” declared Circa CEO Yaron Lifschitz in an address to Currency House’s Creativity and Business breakfast this morning at the Museum of Contemporary Art, decrying what he referred to as a “government entrenched oligarchy of privilege.” Introduced by the Director of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer, Lifschitz cited the example of his own organisation, Circa, in a speech titled Creative Leaps (not faster horses) that focused on the importance of risk in the creative arts.

In the speech – the full text of which is included below – Lifschitz criticised the level of funding received by the Major Performing Arts organisations. “Large companies are inured from change – witness for instance how the MPAB companies were exempt from recent Australia Council cuts,” he said. “They are encouraged to do what they do. Artistically, many of them are arteriosclerotic – playing heritage works to ageing audiences. They demand ever-larger shares of the public purse, which they regularly receive.”

“Had the recent opera review been the circus review,” he said, referring to the National Opera Review,...