Page 2867 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014

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If we look at section (2), the action part of this motion, we see that it calls on the Minister for the Arts to “continue to support the development of arts and cultural activity in the ACT”. I hope that when you get your review of the importance of the arts community, as you are saying, it will be done. It will be interesting to find out when that is done, when the economic analysis is completed.

The answer in the government’s response is:

The Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate … has already started work on an audit of the economic impact of the arts sector on the ACT economy.

Perhaps when the minister speaks she might tell us what that audit will encompass, who is conducting that audit and when she expects to receive the audit. When we get that audit done, hopefully as a consequence of that audit, we will get a proper strategy for the arts in the ACT.

It is very clear around the world that cities that are moving ahead have vibrant arts communities. A book was recently published by Phaidon Press called Art Cities of the Future: 21st Century Avant-Gardes. Canberra does not rate a mention. Places like Bogata and Singapore are included, but there is not a single Australian city in that book. That is a shame, because when you read that book you see that much of the sort of work that is being done that makes these cities leading edge is being done around Australia, and indeed is being done in large measure in the ACT.

The motion calls on the Minister for the Arts to:

(a) continue to support the development of arts and cultural activity in the ACT …

We should start by seeing the audit and then seeing the action plan that will spring from that. The motion calls for the minister to:

(b) continue to advocate on behalf of ACT artists with the Australia Council and the Meeting of Cultural Ministers …

Good luck to you. You should do that; that is part of your job. I am not sure why the minister has to be encouraged by the Assembly in that way. If you did not understand that as your job, there is something wrong.

And the motion calls on the minister to:

We always look forward to the travel reports of ministers in this place. They are often far and few between. In fact, members have much more stringent conditions put on their travel, or used to have stringent conditions as part of their travel, including travel reports. We will look forward to the report of how Alice Springs was in October at the meeting of the cultural ministers from the minister when she returns. That said, there is just the small amendment which I now move:

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