Ministerial Statement

Ford, Mr F.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:01): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: On Thursday 27 September 2018, South Australia lost a cultural icon with the passing of Fringe founder, Frank Ford AM. Widely regarded as the father of both the Adelaide Fringe and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Frank lived and breathed the arts. Frank was the founding chair of the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 1975 and its first honorary life member. Since he began the Festival, the Adelaide Fringe has grown to become the second largest organisation of its kind, second only to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Frank continued to be involved in the Festival and was a founding member of the Adelaide Fringe donor circle and a Fringe Award judge right up until this year. Frank initiated the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2001 and continued as the chair of the advocacy committee. He served on many arts boards and held various teaching, directing and arts administration positions here and overseas. Frank was a teacher, a mentor and a guide to a generation of Adelaide artists.

In 1999, he was awarded Member of the Order of Australia for services to the development of the performing arts in South Australia as a director, playwright, administrator and educator. In 2001, he received the Centenary Medal for services to the community, particularly through the performing arts. In 2006, he received the inaugural Premier's Award for Lifetime Achievement Ruby Award for the arts. Beyond his many achievements, Frank has been remembered as a man of enormous goodwill, kindness and enthusiasm, a mentor, a dynamic and passionate advocate for the arts and the bedrock upon which South Australia's Festival State was built.

Even in his passing, his generosity and passion for the arts live on through three bequests amounting to half a million dollars over the next decade. The Frank Ford Commissioning Award and the annual Frank Ford Award will offer life-changing opportunities for artists at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the Adelaide Fringe and the Cabaret Fringe Festival. While Frank will be missed, his spirit and unrivalled passion for the arts will live on. We offer our sincerest condolences to Frank's partner, Sam Harvey, and his family and friends. Vale, Frank Ford.