Page 3749 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 9 December 1992
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Mr Cornwell: You are putting down the private galleries here.
MR WOOD: No, I am not. Mr Cornwell has no background at all. He does not have that exhaustive experience of Mr Humphries, who was Minister for a time, and other members in seeking out what the people want. After almost 18 months on the select committee, it was clear that the greatest wish from the broad range of people in the arts community and the broad range of people in Canberra was for appropriate cultural facilities. There is no question about that. I will give you some evidence of that in a minute.
Mr Cornwell asked whether I set myself up or whether the Cultural Council sets itself up as a patron of the arts. It is the artists themselves and the bodies that organise them that are responsible for the real cultural and artistic creative effort. I will do everything I possibly can to encourage and to support the arts, because they do so much for Canberra. Recently a major publication, I believe, of the Australia Council published the results of a very comprehensive statistical survey of people across Australia and what they did in respect of the arts. For example, the survey showed that 36 per cent of Australians had visited a library at least once in the last 12 months, whereas nearly 46 per cent of ACT people had done so. For art galleries the figures were 24 per cent for Australia and 42 per cent for the ACT; museums, 30 per cent and 50 per cent; popular music concerts, 29 per cent and 37 per cent; dance performance, 11 per cent and 22 per cent; musical theatre performance - and maybe this reflects the facilities in the ACT - 20 per cent and 21 per cent. We cannot get the major performances in the ACT. For theatre performance the figures were 18 per cent for Australia and 28 per cent for the ACT; for classical music concerts, 8 per cent and 17 per cent.
Mr De Domenico: We are a pretty cultural lot here in the ACT.
MR WOOD: Exactly the point. We are a pretty cultural lot here, and I do not think Mr Cornwell acknowledged that point. I believe that Mr Cornwell put our interests, not the artists' interests, down. Canberra is a place that puts high emphasis on the arts. Witness the chart that is now being held up behind me. I do not know which looks better - Mr Lamont or the chart. It is the case that the ACT people, more than people anywhere else in Australia, put a high value on the arts - more than people in Sydney, more than people in Melbourne. So, let us do something about that, Mr Cornwell. Let us attend to that. (Extension of time granted)
Mr Cornwell is backing off, it seems to me, from what he was saying. Will he deny that he was a bit unhappy about $20,000 to extend the Literary Award? Can I go down the path of explaining to Mr Cornwell what he does not know? In respect of writers, most particularly women writers, we are a leading city in Australia, beyond any question. The quality of writing by a great number of people here is absolutely outstanding. But you do not want to recognise it.
Mr Cornwell: I fail to see why the Government should do it and why we cannot get private benefactors to do it, Mr Wood. That is the point I made.
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