Page 2658 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
wants to hear, not necessarily what he should be hearing. What would have been wrong with a wider process of consultation? If nothing else, it would have demonstrated to the arts community that the minister was serious in his proposal and was prepared to listen to them.
I think that what we are seeing here at the moment is mere lip-service to consultation. I suspect that artsACT and the minister have their own ideas about what the successor of the Cultural Council will look like and they do not want any unnecessary consultation which may divert them to something else. And despite a staffing cast that looks like the credits for Ben Hur, it seems that, from other answers I have received, nothing very much gets done.
Let me run through a few of the questions that I asked in relation to arts in the estimates process and the answers I got. I asked a question about which arts buildings and facilities had been identified for upgrade work and what the work will be. The answer was that that had not yet been determined. Surely, if there were proposals in the budget to support these activities, there should be some idea what buildings are going to be upgraded and what works are going to be done.
I asked what targets were set and outcomes achieved in the past two years since the 2015 arts policy was released. I was told that none was set in the policy, which is fair enough, but that the actions and measures outlined in the 2015-16 strategic plan for the arts were continuing, that is, even though we are in 2017-18. No details about those actions and outcomes were provided. Further, it was stated:
There has been no subsequent strategic plan for artsACT.
ArtsACT is an organisation which is continuing to implement its 2015-16 strategic plan two years after the event.
I asked how the arts contribute to the outcomes of other government directorates. The answer to my question was:
There are no immediate plans to introduce measurable targets for other directorates.
Once again, the government has no strategy. I asked that question because the evidence now is overwhelming that engagement in and of the arts brings many benefits. It is not just in the creative sense. The arts benefit society and the health and wellbeing of our people, as well as the economy overall, in many ways. For example, just in the health area, do you know how powerful music can be for the therapy of people with Parkinson’s disease? Earlier today the minister for the arts reflected, in passing, upon the dance programs for Parkinson’s disease operated out of the Belconnen Arts Centre. Do you have any idea how powerful music can be in speech therapy for stroke patients who lose that function?
Are you aware, Mr Assistant Speaker, that music can bring a person out of the depths of dementia, releasing them into a state of happiness as the cogent and articulate person they once were? Do you know that simply learning how to play a new musical
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video