Page 4110 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 26 November 2014
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The minister’s response was:
What we will table is the arts policy framework.
Of course, that does not have any goals in it, does not have any outcomes. So there is no policy, no goals, no outcomes. I said:
So are there no goals?
Ms Burch said that they would table it. She said:
And every document that sits underneath that, which is all available publicly on the artsACT website.
It is sad that we get to this stage. I then asked the final question:
… what is the overall budget figure for the arts in the ACT?
The official said that it was in the annual report, but it was approximately $11.3 million. I responded:
Government arts engagement—$11,096,000 was the GPO. What is the difference between the $8.5 million and the $11 million?
The official said that it might be capital. Well, it might not be capital. Then it was:
It may well include the Cultural Facilities Corporation.
If they had turned the page, I think it is about $16 million in total that is the approp for the Cultural Facilities Corporation. The chair said:
Can you take that on notice and get back to us?
The minister said:
Yes.
Of course, the minister has not got back to the committee yet.
The minister shows her contempt for the arts in the way that she behaves. The flippant attitude that she had at the hearings shows that we do not have a minister who is engaged in this issue. That is why I bring this motion on today. It calls on the minister to list all the policy, the goals and the outcomes achieved as a result of the ACT arts policy framework and for that to be tabled by the last sitting day in February 2015. It may well be an A4 sheet, as the minister threatened, because I suspect there is not a great deal that has come out of it.
Then we get to the whole issue of the review. There is a lot of consternation in the arts community about the arts review. The website says that the arts review will be conducted in 2014. It says under “Review”:
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