Page 4360 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 1993
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This does not mean people checking up on young people at risk. The avenue is provided for youth workers, people concerned with youth issues, and parents of youth to get involved in the project and have contact with these young people in a non-threatening environment which focuses on the young people's talents, not their difficulties. The issue of ownership is an important one.
The aforementioned Mr Kolesnik recommends from his research that authorities encourage young people to own street art projects; that schools encourage the idea of community pride and spirit; and that there be encouragement of community ownership of all public places and property. We see the need for young people to have their own facilities in hospitals - the adolescent ward, for example - and the Government has given a commitment to work towards that goal. We established secondary colleges in recognition of the special place young people have in this community. We are moving towards a more fluid model of high school organisation in recognition that the current model of high schools is not giving students as they pass through adolescence enough support during these four important years of their education.
Ownership by those in the community of community assets is becoming a major issue in Canberra. We should address the issue of the need for the community to own assets by their actions - assets that belong to the whole community. There is sufficient open space, sufficient public assets and sufficient outlets for orthodox artwork to allow us as a community to act generously in relation to graffiti art, street art and community ownership of public assets. What is wrong with a group of young people decorating, say, an underpass near their school, or a youth centre? As a corollary, elderly residents of a retirement village may also want to decorate their local bus-shelter, as the local playgroup may want to decorate a wall of their centre. Why do we seem to insist on blank walls, unbroken brick facades, and uniformly coloured buildings and structures? Does anyone really believe that harmony and community spirit are expressed through uniformity?
Madam Speaker, as my time has expired, I seek leave to speak again.
Leave granted.
MS SZUTY: The acceptance of this motion by the Assembly will not necessarily involve the expenditure of significant amounts of government money. It is more an issue of facilitating quick and easy access to community owned assets by young people and others interested in street art. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR STEVENSON (11.07): Street art can be wonderful or terrible. It runs the full gamut. The decision today would be easy if we could see all the proposals for murals to go up in various places around Canberra. Then we could say that they were great or that they were terrible.
Recently I was at the ACTION bus-shelter awards. I must admit that the murals I saw there were in the wonderful category. I particularly liked the one with the dolphin. We should understand that not all photographs of bus-shelter murals were taken along on the day. Many did not quite make it, and the reason might be obvious if we look at the other ones. This is the problem with people painting murals on public assets. It can certainly develop creativity and encourage community involvement. There is no doubt that it can reduce graffiti and it
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