Page 3847 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 8 November 1994
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MS SZUTY (9.28): I welcome Mr Wood's ministerial statement on the ACT Government's achievements in arts and culture. It was most appropriate that the Minister for the Arts and Heritage made this statement to the Assembly on 13 October, just five days before the Prime Minister, Mr Keating, delivered the Commonwealth Government's long-awaited cultural statement, Creative Nation. As the Minister said in his statement, Canberra is home to a number of national institutions - which he enumerated - that enhance the cultural profile of Canberra. However, I noted with some concern that the Minister did not include the National Museum among the institutions he named. This omission perhaps indicated some prescience, as, in his statement, the Prime Minister effectively announced the death of the vision of a national museum reflecting the cultural diversity of all Australians. I agree with Mr Humphries's sentiment that this is a most regrettable development in the history of the arts in Australia.
The Prime Minister's Creative Nation statement promised some enhancements to existing institutions, including a $10m refurbishment of the National Film and Sound Archive building, substantial refurbishment of Old Parliament House and the building of a special space for temporary exhibitions at the National Gallery of Australia. In addition, as all members will be aware, the Prime Minister also announced a joint Commonwealth and ACT Government Gallery of Aboriginal Australia on Acton Peninsula. The Minister, Mr Wood, said in his statement:
... 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.
This is a view with which I heartily agree. I would like to suggest to the Minister that the Prime Minister went even further when he stated that his Government's great ambition has been to bring cultural issues into the mainstream of our national life and national decision making.
Madam Speaker, the ACT Government's initiatives in creating the ACT Cultural Council and charging it with the goal of creating a secure foundation and an effective framework for cultural development in the ACT are commendable. The Government's initiative in creating a position of cultural planner within the ACT Planning Authority is also to be welcomed.
Debate interrupted.
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