Page 2542 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 9 August 2016

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Assembly rises for the election, to make a statement, perhaps on Thursday, actually explaining what he can about the scope of the inquiry that is occurring out there or the types of behaviour that it relates to.

Perhaps he needs to come in here and at least guarantee that the types of instances that we have seen coming out of the Northern Territory youth corrections system are not happening here. People in the community are left guessing as to what is happening. Hopefully, the minister will enlighten us, if not tonight, before the Assembly rises at the end of this term.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Cultural Facilities Corporation—Schedule 1, Part 1.7

DR BOURKE (Ginninderra—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Disability, Minister for Small Business and the Arts and Minister for Veterans and Seniors) (8.17): I am pleased to make a few comments regarding the 2016-17 budget for the Cultural Facilities Corporation. Firstly, the government is providing $50,000 towards a marketing campaign for a major show in Canberra. This will be a significant show for Canberra theatregoers and I look forward to saying more about this in the coming weeks. This will build on the Canberra Theatre Centre’s successful record of bringing major shows to Canberra with important benefits for the community and the visitor economy.

The government is also providing $410,000 to upgrade security and safety at the Canberra Theatre Centre. This project continues the staged improvements to the centre that commenced in 2012-13. This new funding means that over the next six years, from 2012-13 to 2017-18, the government will have made a significant investment of nearly $9.5 million in upgrading facilities at the centre. These planned upgrades will ensure the Canberra Theatre Centre remains fit for purpose as the region’s premier performing arts venue capable of hosting major theatre shows.

MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (8.18): Today I am pleased to talk briefly about the Cultural Facilities Corporation, which aims for Canberra to be a creative capital and see itself as a creative leader in the territory, providing a high quality cultural experience based on the arts and heritage resources that it holds in trust for the people of Canberra. It may include the Canberra Theatre Centre, the Canberra Museum and Gallery, the ACT’s historic places which include Lanyon, Calthorpes’ House and Mugga Mugga, and a number of visual arts and social history collections.

We were pleased to see funding in the budget for the security upgrade of the theatre and I note that the minister has talked about the Canberra Theatre Centre being a hub in the region. One of the points of discussion during the estimates committee was patronage of the Canberra Theatre Centre by patrons from outside the ACT.

The committee heard that for the year ending 30 June 2015, which was the most recent full year for which figures were available, the percentage of visitors attending the Canberra Theatre Centre from 50 kilometres or more away was 10 per cent, and


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