Page 2744 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 June 2010
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What is the government actually doing to increase the amount of space and provide more government-run or more affordable non-government-run dance spaces in the future? These are issues that do not appear to be addressed and certainly have not been addressed through this budget. Another example is the National Capital Orchestra. For example, it has no affordable venue in Canberra, despite being called the National Capital Orchestra. So it is having to head out to Queanbeyan for its performances.
I asked Mr Stanhope about orchestra venues in the estimates process. He responded by saying that there was a range of venues for orchestras to perform in central parts of Canberra, including the Canberra Theatre Centre, the Canberra Convention Centre, the recently renovated Albert Hall, the Ainslie Arts Centre, Llewellyn Hall, the National Museum of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Great Hall at Parliament House.
That is all true but unfortunately the situation is not as simple as Mr Stanhope described. The National Capital Orchestra used to perform at Llewellyn Hall but a reduction in the NCO’s subsidy and an increase in the Llewellyn Hall’s hire fees, together with the requirement to use the more expensive Ticketek for sales—a contract which used to be held, I believe, by the Cultural Facilities Corporation—now make it unaffordable. Likewise, the Canberra Theatre is too expensive and the convention centre, the National Museum and Parliament House are not appropriate acoustically. I also suspect that they might well be too expensive.
In addition to this, Albert Hall, the Fairfax theatre at the NCA, Ainslie Arts Centre and Erindale do not have stage areas which are large enough for a full symphony orchestra. I have spoken to the NCO who have informed me that they intend to continue using Queanbeyan for the foreseeable future unless the situation changes and improves. It is worth noting, unfortunately, that the NCO’s Queanbeyan venue does not have public transport options. That means that audience members must drive. Many of their audience members are also elderly and they find that the drive is somewhat daunting to them.
Then we come to McGregor Hall, which is soon due for demolition. It is one of the few affordable, centrally located, noise-appropriate community spaces in Canberra. The government sold this space to the ANU a few years ago and the ANU is about to demolish it. There is no plan to replace this, as Mr Stanhope confirmed last week in questions without notice.
Also, on the basis of that question and other things in the budget, there does not appear to be any plan to halt the continued displacement of arts and music groups, especially the small local arts and music groups. Due to a range of issues, the smaller groups are the ones that are having the real problems. The large high-end groups have got facilities. But if you want to go out somewhere locally and listen to a band, if you want to do it in an affordable way so you can do it every week or every couple of weeks, or even every month, these are areas where we need more venues. This is the area where there is a problem.
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