Page 3593 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 September 1990
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Canberra Institute of the Arts
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (4.54): Mr Speaker, I want to speak very briefly in the adjournment debate on the open day recently held at the Canberra Institute of the Arts. At that time there was an exhibition, which I was fortunate to open, by members of the school - particularly the School of Art. It is worth dwelling, just for one moment, on that exhibition. It represents the personal achievement which reinforces the ethos of the school which places an emphasis on the school having practitioners, not just teachers, in its ranks. It encourages those teachers to develop their art continually throughout the period of their holding positions in the school.
Mr Wood: It distinguishes the school.
MR HUMPHRIES: It distinguishes the school, as Mr Wood aptly says. There is a hoary old phrase that says those that can, do; and those that cannot, teach. It is well belied by the experience of the Canberra School of Art, now the Canberra Institute of the Arts, because there we find a very high quality of practitioner performance as well as teaching performance.
The school itself, of course, fulfils a very important role in the life of Canberra. It is an institute which is able to achieve two things at the one time. It, of course, has a national and international reputation, a reputation which I believe is getting better and better every year, and it has a local dimension, a dimension which greatly assists in promoting the cultural diversity and enrichment of the ACT community. We should all be extremely proud that the Canberra Institute of the Arts has achieved such high standards in both fields, at both levels simultaneously.
The Government, of course, welcomes the amalgamation of the Institute with the Australian National University. It is in line with the recommendations of the committee which Dr Kinloch chaired last year on the question of tertiary institutions. I think this is a good sign that this institution will become for Canberra an increasingly important focus for cultural enrichment and achievement.
Assembly Business
MR BERRY (4.57): I rise to speak on the same subject that I spoke on very near to the conclusion of the last set of sittings. It concerns the Government's performance in relation to legislation. I do this at the end of a sitting that has seen the Territory's worst ever budget introduced for consideration by this Assembly. But I will not go on
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