Page 700 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 11 February 2009

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(a) develop a policy and actions to support live events in our community, including, but not limited to, ensuring that:

(i) order of occupancy legislation is reviewed;

(ii) each local shopping centre has a large 24 hour accessible community space, such as bollard or clearly sign posted and prominent wall space, for the promotion of events via bill posters;

(iii) large commercial developments in group and town centres provide a community bollard for the promotion of events via bill posters; and

(iv) building codes for residential development in all commercial zones have sound insulation and physical security appropriate to co-location with live cultural events;

(b) provide adequate late night transport options for large scale events; and

I am very pleased to be introducing this motion in the Assembly while the fringe festival, which we have just been talking about, is being held outside in the Civic Square. It was really good to be able to leave last night after a late sitting night and see such a vibrant culture in our small city on a Tuesday night. In fact, the whole city seemed bustling throughout, not just at the fringe festival. There were people having coffee, going to pubs, chatting in the squares and generally adding to the feeling that Canberra is alive, which I am sure is what we are all aiming at.

Modern, high technology societies such as ours run the risk of increasing fragmentation. For some people, community exists more strongly in the virtual world than it does in the physical world. People form communities of interest based on activities, pastimes and occupations. In that context, issues such as the value of live music, the arts and peaceful, large-scale community activities need to be in the forefront of our minds. It is good for all of us who live in this city if it is lively, engaging and diverse in the entertainments and activities that are available for people to enjoy and to make their living from.

Despite being such a small city, Canberra boasts a rich diversity of cultural events—music of most kinds, theatre, circus, festivals, such as the current multicultural festival, and so on. What we need to now see is greater government support for such culture, not just through the provision of buildings and funding, which is important, but through our planning system. We need to be planning our building layout and design to enhance this vibrant city feeling, not just in Civic but in other town centres as well.

The Greens are keen to see music and cultural events in places that are easy for people to get to and which make it pleasant for people who live near those areas. We actively support live cultural events in our community. We need strong policies which ensure: existing leasing rights for venues are prioritised to maintain cultural event diversity;

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