Page 929 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Our report did not set out to compare the ACT against the rest of Australia, but since we used the same methodology as was used in Victoria we know that a comparable figure for that state is roughly two per cent of gross value added by industry.
So we have 1.3 per cent; they have two per cent; therefore we are underperforming by a third against Victoria. So we—
Dr Bourke interjecting—
MR SMYTH: Sorry, minister?
Dr Bourke: You haven’t read the rest of the paragraph.
MR SMYTH: Oh, I have not read the rest.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: There is no need for conversation across the chamber.
MR SMYTH: Actually, I have read the rest. Let me finish. That is the problem with interjecting too early, minister. So you put up this straw man: “We’re not like the rest of Australia. We’re actually like Victoria.” But Victoria still outperforms us by 50 per cent. The contribution to their economy is 50 per cent higher than ours. So thank you, minister, for the confirmation that we are underperforming in the arts. The question for you—through you, Madam Assistant Speaker, to the minister—is: what are you going to do to fix it?
Apparently, this is the get-out-of-jail clause that the minister says I should read:
The fact that the arts in the ACT make up a slightly smaller—
slightly smaller; a third less—
share of our economy than in other states is not in itself an indicator that our arts sector is lagging. Different economies have different industry mixes for a variety of reasons.
That is right, because we do not have mining, we do not have agriculture and we do not have large-scale manufacturing. We actually do not have a lot of things that other states like Victoria have. So our arts sector, on that measure, should actually be a larger percentage, because if you take out the things that the other states have, logically it could be much bigger.
Mr Barr interjecting—
MR SMYTH: The Chief Minister chips in. There it is; the rolling of the eyes and the shaking of the head. I know that the Chief Minister turned up to an arts function recently. He came to the Megalo birthday. Well done, Chief Minister, for finally turning up to an arts event. To give Minister Bourke his due, he does turn up.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video