Page 2692 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 15 August 2017
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MR BARR: Thank you, Madam Acting Speaker. As I was saying in relation to unsolicited proposal guidelines, they are publicly available. They have recently been revised and reflect best practice across this country.
Budget—arts funding
MS CHEYNE: My question is to the Minister for the Arts and Community Events. Minister, can you please outline how the 2017-18 budget benefits Canberra arts facilities?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Ms Cheyne for her question and her dedicated interest in the arts. In the 2017-18 budget the government is investing in the growth and the sustainability of the ACT arts facilities which underpin so much of our capital’s cultural activity.
One of our key election commitments is to fund stage 2 of the Belconnen Arts Centre, which will allow the centre to grow into a major hub for the arts not just in Belconnen but also across the entire ACT and region. Stage 2 will include a 400-seat multipurpose auditorium, a new dance space, and expanded exhibition and workshop spaces, which will support the creative practice of an ever-growing cohort of diverse local artists.
Many of Canberra’s other much-loved arts facilities will be receiving ongoing safety upgrades to their premises to ensure that they are providing the best possible environment for creative and social enterprise. An upgrade to the lighting at the Canberra Museum and Gallery will improve the efficiency of energy use and provide safer, better quality lighting to display their unique and beautiful collections.
We are also funding future thinking about another iconic Canberra cultural institution, the Canberra Theatre. It is becoming clear that there is potential for our local theatre complex to grow into a major regional cultural centre. The government will fund a community consultation process on this as a first step.
Investment in our arts facilities is just one of the ways the government is delivering on its election commitments in this budget to make this great city we love even better.
MS CHEYNE: Can the minister outline how the 2017-18 budget benefits Canberra arts events?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Ms Cheyne for her supplementary question. We know that investment in the arts contributes to building a city that is creative, livable and vibrant, and our accessible, high quality and often quite edgy community events are a great way for Canberrans to engage with the arts. Through engagement with the arts, we are invited to see the world and our place within it differently, build community and explore identity.
This budget includes funding for three years for Art, Not Apart, a well-loved festival that challenges notions of place and identity, activates spaces in our city in quite
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