South Australian Museum

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:06): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier offer a guarantee that popular galleries at the Museum, including Egypt, minerals, foreign mammals, the biodiversity gallery and the polar collection, will continue? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: When I asked this question in the parliament's Budget and Finance Committee, the director said, amongst other things, and I quote:

At the moment we have a sequence and a range of very compartmentalised single disciplinary exhibits—you could term some of them as cabinets of curiosity—but it is not a modern museum.

He further said:

I can't guarantee they are going to stay as they are, no. It would be wrong of me to do that.

The Premier has announced a review to look at the Museum but, to my knowledge, he is yet to or has not made a commitment to maintain those galleries.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (15:07): I thank the member for Morialta for the question. I think, as the Premier said, we have an expert panel that has been appointed to review some options for the Museum. Amongst those considerations is: what does a modern museum look like, and what do modern collections and exhibitions look like? We will take that expert advice and we will move forward with the Museum. At the moment we have those collections, and neither the government nor the Museum has ever said that we are getting rid of the Egyptian room or that we are getting rid of the mammal room, despite the lies of those in the opposition.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. MICHAELS: There has been no decision on removing exhibitions. The panel will give us advice and we will work with the Museum on a way forward.