Ernabella Arts Centre

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (14:56): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about his recent visit to the Ernabella Arts Centre?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in this area. It is always a pleasure to visit the APY lands, as I do a number of times a year, and a visit in the last few weeks to the lands was no different. I was lucky enough to incorporate a visit to a number of arts centres as part of my visit to the APY lands.

Ernabella Arts Centre, located in Pukatja, is Australia's oldest running Indigenous arts centre, with its roots dating back to the establishment of the classroom at the Presbyterian mission at Pukatja in 1948. The first products created out of the Ernabella Arts Centre were woven fabrics and hand-tied floor rugs with distinctive patterns, but the medium used by artists at the centre to depict their stories have expanded exponentially in the years since and include not only canvas works but also stunning ceramics.

The works created by the ever-growing number of talented artists at Ernabella are world class and are a source of great pride for the community and for the state generally, with many significant works in galleries around the country and around the world. On the day I was at the centre recently it was quieter than normal, with a number of the artists having left that morning to attend the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards in Darwin, where ceramics from Ernabella were front and centre and were the first thing people who walked into that exhibition in Darwin would see.

The facility that the artists of this calibre work in always needs more resources to match the amount of people who work there and the quality of the work that is being done out of the Ernabella Arts Centre, which is why I was glad to be able to announce funding of just over $700,000 to fund extensions and refurbishments of the centre. Extending this centre will ensure it will continue to play a central role in Central Desert arts and the arts movement in Australia. I am advised that the centre is frequently used, and that generally at least 25 artists each day use the centre, painting across two studios, and it has been at full capacity for several years, meaning some artists have had to work from home or even outside, due to a lack of space.

This new funding will enable significant extensions to work space in the arts centre building, with one of the painting studios doubling in size, along with larger office space and a display area for new gallery products. Also, there will be an upgrade to the ceramics area out the back of the studio. The studio has a high tin roof with no insulation and limited heating and cooling, and with the extremes of the weather, which gets down below zero during winter and can go well into the high 40s during summer, having a more comfortable work environment in the ceramics studio will be greatly appreciated and it will be well used.

I was very pleased, as I visited there, to be able to announce the new funding. I have spent many hours, particularly in the Men's Room, over the years talking to people, getting a better understanding of the work that is done and the important way it provides in sharing and preserving culture.