Page 2666 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 11 August 2015
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MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Disability, Minister for Racing and Gaming and Minister for the Arts) (9.33): The vision of the Cultural Facilities Corporation for Canberra is to be a creative capital which values arts and heritage and their contribution to building a more inclusive and resilient and indeed an innovative society. The ACT government, our government, indeed in this 2015-16 budget, recognises and values the cultural facility support for making the city an exciting place to live, an attractive destination for business and tourism, and their important role in the economy of the ACT.
The CFC is certainly a leader in the creativity of this city and the diversity and the richness they bring through the Canberra Theatre Centre, the Canberra Museum and Gallery, the historic places of Lanyon Homestead, Mugga Mugga and Calthorpes’ House, and notably a number of visual arts and historic collections that they hold and maintain.
This year the Canberra Theatre Centre was able to secure some wonderful performances, and through this budget we will invest over $4 million in the next three years upgrading the centre to ensure that it continues to be a hub of cultural activity in our city. Every year around 200,000 people attend performances, and this year the theatre had a particular focus on celebrating its 50th anniversary. This budget’s new funding builds on the previous two capital funding projects at the centre, meaning that the government is investing a total of over $9 million over a six-year period.
The government will also provide close on $100,000 through this budget for a capital project at the Lanyon Heritage Centre, the former Nolan Gallery. I have a particularly soft spot for the Lanyon heritage area. It is in my electorate of Brindabella and it is a magnificent place and sanctuary. If people in this Assembly or elsewhere have not been to Lanyon I do encourage them to go. The funding will be used to upgrade the stormwater systems at the centre so that the centre can be supported for educational programs. The new funding this budget provides builds on the previous two years budgets but both the previous budget and the new funding support the role of Lanyon as the ACT’s premier historical site, which each year attracts over 50,000 visitors and provides hundreds of education and community programs.
ACT museums and galleries do a wonderful job of engaging our community by presenting Canberra’s stories and our diverse and visual cultural heritage, and this additional funding will support our cultural facilities to continue to contribute to our being a creative capital. If those opposite have not heard it, we are simply the best city in the world in which to live.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
MADAM SPEAKER: I understand that this is where we are proposing to adjourn. However, I need a question so that the staff can put it in the notice paper. I will start the next item and then somebody might like to adjourn it.
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