Page 3517 - Week 13 - Thursday, 26 November 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Chartwell Crafts
MR KAINE: I would like to direct a question to the Minister for Community Services, Mr Connolly. The Minister is probably aware from the Canberra Times article this morning that Chartwell Crafts, a group of 12 disabled artists whose works hang in Parliament House and a number of civic buildings, face imminent closure of their Phillip gallery-workshop. Commonwealth Government funding, through the Department of Community Services, has ceased, and despite their efforts and considerable success at becoming self-sufficient they are not able to sustain themselves without some funding assistance. Can the Minister indicate whether the Government is able to assist this group by replacing the Commonwealth grant funds so that Chartwell Crafts can continue to operate?
MR CONNOLLY: I thank Mr Kaine for his question. I am aware of Chartwell Crafts' situation. I think all members are aware of the work that that group has done and has admired various artworks that are hanging around this town that have been done by that group. Chartwell Crafts have not been in receipt of recurrent ACT Government funding. They were provided some years ago with a start-up grant from the Chief Minister's Department's Economic Development Division. I believe that that occurred during the period of Ms Follett's stewardship, although it may have transferred over into the period of your stewardship. In any event, they were given a start-up grant for small business development. As you would well understand, those start-up grants are made fairly clearly conditional on the basis that it is a start-up grant for a business; it is not an application for ongoing recurrent funding. While they have been, I understand, in receipt of some recurrent Commonwealth funding, they have run into problems with that and the Commonwealth funding has been stopped.
I would be happy to work with Chartwell Crafts, should they approach me. They have not approached me so far for assistance, but my colleague Ms Ellis has been in touch with them to try to steer them in the direction of perhaps overcoming some of the problems that caused that withdrawal of Commonwealth recurrent funding. I understand that there have been some issues in relation to the way groups who are in receipt of Commonwealth grants acquit those grants and comply with various Commonwealth accountancy provisions.
We think that Chartwell are an important part of the Canberra community. They are operating on the lines of a business, and I think it is their goal, and always has been their goal, to operate without recurrent funding. They do enjoy some benefits at the moment. They are in peppercorn rent premises that were once government owned but were handed over to Jobless Action - a community group that sometimes gets some criticism, but a community group which in fact is passing on those premises to Chartwell Crafts at a very notional rent. So, they have certain advantages there.
We would be happy to try to help them put together a package that may allow them to get back into some sort of Commonwealth support. In relation to your basic question of whether we are in a position to provide ongoing recurrent funding when the Commonwealth withdraws funding, I have to
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .