Page 3696 - Week 12 - Thursday, 13 October 1994
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Madam Speaker, this Government believes that culture and the arts play a key role in enlightening, enriching and entertaining society. The arts permeate our society through theatre, music, dance, film, literature and craft, and in numerous other ways. This diversity of expression is an important barometer of the health and vitality of our community. Support and encouragement of the arts and the people involved are essential roles for government in improving the quality of life for all in our community. I begin by noting our achievements in developing sources of expert advice in this field. In June 1991, the Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Cultural Activities and Facilities, which I chaired, recommended establishing an ACT Cultural Council to provide broad and specific policy advice to the Government on cultural matters, including advice on the allocation of grant moneys. On 21 November 1991, in the Government response to this report, and then as Minister for the Arts, I recommended the creation of the ACT Cultural Council as the ACT Government's principal cultural advisory body. I then went on in December 1991 to create the council - a 15-member voluntary, part-time group of individuals with considerable experience and expertise in the arts and culture.
In early 1992, the Government presented the council with a goal. This was to create a secure foundation and an effective framework for cultural development in the ACT. The council responded enthusiastically, and after a highly successful consultation process produced the publication, Sharing the Vision: A Framework for Cultural Development. This document was released in May 1993 and was the result of 15 months of development work, with both formal and informal discussions between the Cultural Council, its subcommittees and members of the wider community. As well as the provision of expert advice, effective planning has been a key element of our approach. In its 1992 election platform, the Government promised that cultural planning would be treated as an integral part of the planning process, just like urban and environmental planning. As an acknowledgment of this important link between planning and cultural development, a new position of cultural planner has been created in the ACT Planning Authority. This initiative represents a significant break with the past, where cultural development has been treated as an optional extra.
Along with the development of a broad agenda for ACT cultural planning needs, and whilst looking at the development of a cultural precinct in Civic, one of the planner's first major projects will be to develop a Belconnen region cultural plan by assessing the existing situation and suggesting a strategy for the future. The creation of this new position is a significant advance for cultural development in the Territory and is an integral element of this Government's commitment to consultation and community participation and to actively involving communities within Canberra in their own development. It is also an important element of our regional strategy for the arts, of which I will say more later.
Another example of this approach is presently being undertaken in Tuggeranong. Members may be aware that the ACT Government, through a $15,000 grant to the Tuggeranong Community Arts Association, has funded a cultural planner to conduct a cultural mapping exercise and develop a cultural plan for that region.
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