Page 23 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 25 February 2014
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Because of what has happened, I was contacted by several attendees who were a little shocked and upset by the content of the opening night acts, and some people got up and left. Simply because the minister or the Chief Minister have not been contacted by people who felt upset does not mean that they do not exist, and it does not mean that they do not matter. But this was almost to be expected, because it was the well-known modus operandi of the director who was given the job without due process. One member of the Canberra arts scene said his work is usually base, unsophisticated and embarrassing.
Honestly, give me a break. If this minister really believes that nipple tassels, a Hitler stripper and fake public acts of indecency have somehow enhanced or assisted the celebration of our multicultural community or the arts in Canberra then this is a sad indictment of the minister. How embarrassing. The fact that this is not blindly obvious to the minister is the very issue here.
There should have been an acknowledgement that this director, with a long litany of previous poor judgement, should not have been given this directorship without a competitive selection process. What is more, the minister should have expected an outcome like this and should have acted to ensure that the inevitable offence was not incurred.
I asked her several times after the appointment if she was checking on the work of this director, and she assured me that she was. If the minister is unable or unwilling to take responsibility to control the outcomes in her own area of responsibility on her watch then it is not fair on her that the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister continue to expect her to perform in a way that she cannot. It is just not right.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.02): I will not be supporting this motion today. I think—
Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order!
MR RATTENBURY: the Liberal Party outlined the seriousness of this by the fact that the first I read about it was in the Canberra Times this morning, on my front driveway when I picked up the paper. I am one of those who still gets the paper delivered. The fact that there was no discussion about this in advance points to the nature of this motion and whether there is a serious discussion to be had or not.
Turning to some of the matters that Mr Hanson and his colleagues have raised, if I reflect on the Fringe Festival, there certainly have been a range of views expressed to me directly, and also across the community, and those views are quite varied. Some people have conveyed to me their sense of concern about the appropriateness of the show. Equally, I have seen other well-put views about artistic expression and the fact that this show was not necessarily offensive at all. I will cite some of those examples, because I think it is instructive for the Assembly to share in some of the views that have been put out there.
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