Page 2288 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 9 May 2012
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Somewhere around 1975 there was a suggestion that the school be part of the ANU. It must be remembered that the ACT was administered by the commonwealth in those days, so an absorption into the ANU could have been effected quite easily. Mr Llewellyn said to me at the time that we should oppose its absorption vigorously because it would result in the ultimate demise of the institution. How prophetic was that?
You may know, Mr Speaker, that Mr Llewellyn’s vision for the school, shared by the then Deputy Prime Minister Doug Anthony, was to create an institution along the lines of a Juilliard school which produced not only musicians with academic excellence but practising musicians of high concert performance quality. It was the combination of both of these which made the school unique, and that it continues. These people in the ANU management are blind, deaf or stupid, or a reasonable combination of the three.
When I was registrar we awarded only a diploma in music at the time. I was there when degree status emerged as the school was recognised as a tertiary institution. To my delight I noticed that doctorates are delivered at the school now, which just makes Mr Llewellyn’s dream come true. He actually lived long enough to see it.
But that first attack was seen by Mr Llewellyn and after the absorption there was the financial attack—another one in 2001. This is not the first time it has happened. We saw the school’s budget slashed by the then ACT Liberal government. It was slashed by $800,000. As a member of the Labor opposition I promised that an ACT Labor government would reinstate the funds removed, and on taking government in 2001 the funds were indeed reinstated.
You can look back in Hansard to see the reasons why that was so. Indeed, there was an apologetic stance taken by Mr Humphries and Ms Carnell. I note that Mrs Dunne worked for Mr Humphries in those days. But I have to say that I am delighted to see Mrs Dunne bringing this particular motion forward. I do not care what reasons people have to change their position or whether it is just something that evolves. We are at the right place to be in this Assembly at the moment.
The ANU administration clearly does not recognise that one cannot quantify artistic excellence coupled with not only academic excellence but also the production of musical pedagogy. The people who will suffer will be the students, the people of Canberra and the people of Australia. This is a financial fix by philistines forfeiting our future.
Mr Speaker, I can tell you that the reputation that the School of Music enjoys is an international one. It is because of the unique nature of the school. The reputation is enjoyed by practising and performing musicians and practising academics. There is an innovation in this institution. When Llewellyn Hall was first built, it was the first tuned auditorium in the country. It was actually designed in partnership with an acoustic engineer, the first time that had ever happened. It has not got 1,500 seats, by the way; it has got 1,442, as the fire brigade noted. The other ones were taken out. It has a recording studio, a TV recording studio and an audio one. It was the first in the country to have that.
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