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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
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SOUTH AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY ARTS TRUST (CONSTITUTION OF TRUST) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 October 2008. Page 702.)

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen) (15:49): I am pleased to indicate to the house, and particularly to the minister, that I am the lead speaker on this bill, and I do not intend to hold the house very long—and I am sure all the advisers sitting back there waiting for technical, curly questions from me will be delighted to know that I have none in particular.

To that end, I first thank the CEO of Country Arts, Mr Ken Lloyd, who not only went to the bother of contacting me and providing me with a comprehensive briefing in relation to the matter but also made a point of speaking individually with, I think, virtually all the country members, certainly on our side of the chamber and, I assume, on the other side, too, so that those who had a particular interest in country arts understood the import of the bill; hence, I expect it to have quite a speedy passage through this and the other place.

As the shadow minister for the arts, I thoroughly enjoy my portfolio, and I get out into the regions on a fairly regular basis. As the minister knows, I spend a fair bit of time at the Hahndorf Academy and other such wonderful places in the Hills. Indeed, I was there again last weekend when Lee Warren opened an exhibition as part of the Feast Festival. It was really good because, on several occasions recently when I have attended the Hahndorf Academy, I have been happily wandering and looking at all the lovely exhibits when the director has come to me in a panic saying, 'The person who was going to open the exhibition hasn't shown up. Isobel, would you mind doing it?' to which I have always said yes. So, it was a pleasure to go there and not have to do the opening and to see the person who was due to do it there.

I think the bill is relatively straightforward. Country Arts SA was established in this state as a statutory authority in 1993. In addition to its CEO, currently it has the equivalent of 60 full-time employed staff; of those 60, some 18 are employed around the regions of South Australia as arts officers. As I understand the structure, a lot of people are funded partly by Country Arts and partly by local councils. Country Arts SA concerns itself with the provision of not just visual arts but also a whole range of performing arts and other things. In a state where we have such a concentration of our population in the metropolitan area, in my view it is very important for us to give the sort of assistance that is provided through Country Arts SA to ensure that we get a good level of the arts—visual, performing or whatever—out into the regions.

The board performs a range of roles, and its board of trustees, which is currently chaired by Steve Grieve, comprises nine members. Although the board and the organisation run some of its own projects, their main activity, in terms of financial import, is that it receives a considerable amount of money which it distributes by way of grants. According to the briefing from Mr Lloyd, I understand that the bulk of that money, in fact, comes from the commonwealth. So, some $300,000 of the $470,000 it distributes annually for various arts projects in our country regions comes from the commonwealth. It will be no surprise to members of the house that there is considerable competition to get those grants into particular areas.

The main objective of the bill now before us is to restructure Country Arts so that there is a more statewide approach to the way applications for these arts grants are carried out. The instant concern that could arise is that, if you adopt a statewide approach, it can sometimes mean that it is centralised in Adelaide and we lose the essence of Country Arts—its regional flavour. However, as I understand the bill, it ensures that we have not only the continuation of regional representation but also, under the proposed system, the guarantee of a more secure regional representation than is currently the case.

The spirit of the original act was that regional members would have a majority, but, in practice, that was not always the case. Whereas, I understand that under the new scheme it will now move from four guaranteed positions to five guaranteed positions. Perhaps the minister can confirm for me, but, as I understand it, the regions will be redesignated and, essentially, this government is trying to designate regions which are consistent across a range of portfolios throughout the state, regardless of whether we are dealing with regional development, the provision of family services, arts, or whatever.

The idea—and I am not averse to it—is that there will be consistent boundaries for the regions. Rather than having 10 regions, there will be five lots of two regions joined together, with each of the five providing one member to the board. There will be a proxy for that member, so that if the member cannot attend the proxy will attend. Thus, we will move from a circumstance where the current legislation guarantees only four out of the nine being able to have their say. The new system will guarantee that there will be five regional representatives on the board.

I did not think to ask Ken Lloyd—and perhaps the minister can comment in his response—about where the meetings are held. I assume that, although some are held in Adelaide, they would, from time to time, be held around the state for the benefit of looking at arts issues and what is happening in the arts in various parts of the state. The essence of it will be that the decisions about the funding and this nearly half $1 million that we have annually at the moment, which is being distributed, should, theoretically, be distributed to the most worthwhile projects.

I assume that, although there would be some consideration as to the equitable distribution across the state, one would not want to see a situation where, for example, if every region was to be guaranteed a certain proportion of the funding, you might have a not so good project in one area getting its funding, whereas, one of two good projects in another area might have to miss out on funding. The idea is that it will be a statewide approach, and the best will be chosen.

As I said, my concern when I first started to think about this was that I did not want to see a statewide approach simply being a code for centralising everything into Adelaide. I am satisfied on the basis that I have spoken to Ken Lloyd, Greg Mackie and to people in some regional arts areas, that there is a degree of support for this new structure.

As I understand it, the existing five regional boards, which currently exist and amount to five people times five boards (25 people), will be reduced. There will now be a new section 11 committee. I suggest that there might be a better name for a committee than 'section 11 committee'; nevertheless, for the time being that is what is called. The total of the appointments will be reduced from 25 to 19, and, again, there is a guarantee that the majority, and in this case the vast majority, of them will be regionally based. So, 15 of the 19 on the new section 11 committee will, in fact, be regionally based.

In view of the fact that we have had extensive briefings, particularly from Ken Lloyd—and I thank him for the time and effort that he put into it—and in view of the fact that he, the board and the regional members, the people I have spoken to in the arts community and the regional arts committee all favour this amendment, the Liberal opposition has pleasure in supporting the proposed bill.

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (16:00): I want to speak very briefly about Country Arts, because—

The Hon. R.J. McEwen interjecting:

Mr VENNING: The minister is being very judgmental. I happen to appreciate the arts. It goes right back to when the minister was the Hon. Diana Laidlaw. She and I often used to go to the theatre together. She educated me. I want to pay tribute to Mr Ken Lloyd and the board of the trust, because they have done a fantastic job. Yes, he did come around to give us all individual briefings. If he wants to do that in the future, as whip, I suggested that we could do that collectively. It would save him a lot of time. However, I did appreciate the one-to-one briefing he gave us. I have known him for many years.

I commend the work the board does. I note that the board has been streamlined. I am a little concerned about the board being trimmed down. I notice that it has been trimmed down from 25 to 19, but, of the 19, 15 will still be regionally based. I pay the highest tribute to the Country Arts Trust. I am very aware of its activities, particularly in Port Pirie, where I have been to many of the—

The Hon. R.J. McEwen interjecting:

Mr VENNING: Well, it was not.

The Hon. R.J. McEwen interjecting:

Mr VENNING: The honourable member raises Port Pirie. I happened to be the member then. I was the member for Custance, as an honourable member said yesterday. The Port Pirie theatre was in my electorate, that is why I am mentioning it. Seriously, my late mother got so much satisfaction and pleasure out of going to this theatre. She would go to almost all the programs irrespective of what they were. I think the program selection has been excellent for people in country areas. The variety has been fantastic. Of late, of course, the Brenton Langbein Theatre in the Barossa has come on stream. For those members who have not been to this theatre, they should go and have a look because it is arguably better equipped than the theatre right alongside this building. It is at a school.

Again, I pay tribute to the previous minister in our Liberal government who fired this thing up in the first place with a government grant. It is a perfect example of a PPP before PPPs were invented. The government put in $1.5 million over five years. It has been about a $10 million project. Our bit of money primed the pump, and you have an asset there now which the performers come to. I know there were some initial glitches there which Ken Lloyd and I had some discussions about. There were some glitches about the cost of the theatre, the cooperation of the local managing board and also in relation to school activity.

We got over those glitches because the cost of operating a theatre such as that is expensive and the costs must be met. I am very pleased that this has happened. I think that Kevin Bloody Wilson is up there next weekend.

Mrs Redmond: I thought we were talking about the arts?

Mr VENNING: I presume it is one of the Country Arts' programs. I am amazed that this theatre can put on an artist such as him, but I am sure that Kevin B Wilson will confine himself a little. Again, I pay tribute to the Country Arts and the job that it does, because it does it right across the state. I think there are five theatres. Mount Gambier is another one. I think it is an excellent service. Yes, no doubt it is probably fairly heavily subsidised. It probably is, but all I can say is, 'Thank you very much.' It is a service that is hitting its target. I am very pleased to be associated with it; and, one day when I do retire, I reckon I will become even more of a patron.

Ms BREUER (Giles) (16:04): I want briefly to speak about Country Arts, because, if I get back in time, I will be appearing tonight on the Middleback stage in Whyalla. The ABC has chosen to go to Whyalla today and tomorrow. It is doing its shows from there, so I will be appearing tonight on stage with my old mate Peter Goers and a number of local identities. I am looking forward to it.

It is not the first time I have appeared on that stage. I have done many things on that stage in the past. We will not go into detail, but I am sure that the member for Schubert will remember my reference to my belly dancing on that stage at one stage, and I even showed him the photo. Of course, that was with the Whyalla Players of which I am now a very proud patron. I will also return to the boards when I finish in this place.

Country Arts does an incredible job for regional South Australia. It brings performances to South Australia which cannot possibly be profitable, but at least we have the opportunity to see them. It is wonderful for our young people to be exposed to so many different types of theatre, dance, music and performing arts. It is an incredible thing for country South Australia that they are able to do it. It is certainly very ably led by Ken Lloyd. He has done a great job. He is always very approachable and understands our country regions.

It would be nice if we could afford to put some more money into our country theatres and fix them up a little more. Maybe that will happen in the future, I certainly hope so. Well done to them. I think that what we are proposing will be for the good of country arts. I certainly know that people in regional South Australia, particularly with an interest in the arts—and not just Kevin Bloody Wilson but all types of arts—certainly appreciate what they do.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (16:06): I also support this bill. I think it is a step in the right direction. I am very grateful for the briefings that I had from Mr Ken Lloyd. Indeed, it might surprise some members in this place to learn that I have had quite a bit of activity over the years in the arts and, indeed, I did perform in The Big Men Fly in my rural youth days in the 1970s. I was a radio commentator.

The arts are very critical, particularly in my electorate. A couple of weeks ago, I attended the renaming of the theatre at Noarlunga, the Hopgood Theatre. I was very impressed. I have been in that facility before, but of particular note that day I thought the way in which Don Hopgood spoke was terrific. He has always been good on his feet and he was terrific that night. It was a bit of a Labor Party feel good exercise but, besides from that, it was a good event.

I do point out that my electorate does struggle for facilities on both sides of the water. Kangaroo Island really has none, apart from district halls, and nor does the south coast. We would desperately like to have a performing arts centre of some description on the south coast. It is no secret that I have been chasing one for quite a while and it is no secret that the local communities also want one.

I regard it as critical. They are expensive, and I acknowledge that. Currently, when acts and things come to the south coast such as the National Boys Choir which performed a couple of weeks ago and which I attended, they perform in the Newland Church at Victor Harbor which is the most suitable place. The town hall at Victor Harbor is not suitable. There is nothing at Goolwa or Yankalilla that is suitable, and it goes on. There is nothing to project those magnificent things that come down. There are very active—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

Mr PENGILLY: Yes, thanks member for Heysen. There are a lot of active Thespian groups down there. The fact is that they are very active and, indeed, they would also like to see some sort of facility that they could use. Interestingly enough, just today when I picked up the local papers, an article in the paper from Kangaroo Island, The Islander, was talking about having the Flaming Sambucas perform at the Wisanger oval just out of Kingscote. They are a terrific act if anyone has not seen them. The gentleman who has decided to do it is from Queensland and he has decided to reside on the island. I do not know him, but he wants to bring over an increasing number of acts, but it is difficult considering the venues in the country. I am all in favour of it, a terrific idea.

As has been indicated, the bill is a step in the right direction. When it is enacted, it will serve the purposes of rural South Australia. I hope that the minister is broad in his appointments to boards and ensures that they cover all aspects of the community and not just one sector. Knowing the minister, he will do that, especially now that it is on the record. I look forward to this new legislation being passed.

I want to record, once again, my thanks to all those people in my electorate. I know there are other places, but particularly the electorate of Finniss do participate widely. My wife herself is an artist. She says I am an artist, but a different type, but she is actually quite a good artist.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (16:10): I will be brief. I cannot help but make a couple of comments about rural youth and drama after hearing from the esteemed member for Finniss. I too was a bit of an actor in my day, many years ago in my youth, when I did not have grey hair. I was part of a celebrated team from the Coomandook Rural Youth Club, who won the state drama contest in the Clare Institute—so, very proud. There were people involved in that such as Adrian Kirchner, an old school buddy of mine, Julie Zander, and I am sure there were several others, probably Paul Simmons, a friend of mine, and these people are going far back. They were very heady days and it is a great pity that Rural Youth does not exist these days.

I recently attended a performance of Cats in Murray Bridge and I acknowledge the connection of Tim McFarlane, who was Andrew Lloyd-Webber's right-hand man. Tim is one of the Wellington McFarlanes, and he was there that night and I spoke with him. It was a great local performance of Cats by the Murray Bridge players in the town hall. I also acknowledge what happens with the local council and the art gallery at Murray Bridge. There are many displays of art at various times, many collections such as: Aboriginal art, children's art and there has even been a recent collection of prisoners' art there.

I would acknowledge the work of the local Rotary Clubs in running their cultural weekends in Murray Bridge and bringing together many cultures. Murray Bridge has become more and more multicultural as time goes by, especially with the need for international workers at the local meatworks. There is a large Chinese population, there are Sudanese, Afghans, and many others throughout the community that make up quite a cultural blend in Murray Bridge.

Finally, and I know the government usually expects a belting from this side, but I will acknowledge the government and its contribution of, I believe, over $1 million towards the Murray Bridge council from South Australian Country Arts for the Regional Centre of Culture for 2010. I am sure that money will be well used.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (16:13): I thank all members for their contributions. I particularly thank members opposite for their support for the legislation. As the lead speaker for the opposition, the member for Heysen said that politics is supposed to be theatre for ugly people. I do not want to reflect unkindly on any of the participants in today's debate, but all I can say is that I think they chose their careers wisely.

Before I get to some of the detail of comments that were made, there were some errors in the second reading speech in relation to the names of the regions. For the sake of the record, I will just correct those. They should have been: Barossa/Yorke and Mid North, Eyre and Western/Far North, Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island/Adelaide Hills, Murray and Mallee, and Limestone Coast. I apologise that some of the language was slightly wrong.

In relation to some of the points that were made, the member for Heysen, I thought, summed up the issues very well, and essentially what she said was correct, but just for the point of clarity: four boards will be abolished (I think she may have said five); there will be five regional trustees; and there will be 10 people on the select section 11 committee, but the essence of what she was saying was accurate.

The proposition before us today did not come from the government; it was not my suggestion. It came from Country Arts itself. I said that I was happy to do it provided that they could persuade the opposition that it was a good idea. I am glad to see that they have managed to do that. This organisational structure is a more rational approach to managing country arts. It does, as the member for Heysen said, pick up the new regions that the state government has put in place. By combining them the way they have, they essentially have five areas of the state to cover. In each area—in each region—there is at least one theatre.

For example, in the Limestone Coast there is the Robert Helpmann; in the Murray and Mallee there is the Chaffey Theatre at Renmark; and in the Fleurieu, Kangaroo Island and Adelaide Hills, there is now the Hopgood Theatre, which is being run by Country Arts. I hope that the people on the Fleurieu Peninsula will identify with the Hopgood Theatre and travel there to see performances which they otherwise would miss out on or for which they would have to go to the city. The Eyre, Western and Far North have the Middleback Theatre which, of course, is in Whyalla, and Country Arts also supplies a program to the Port Lincoln theatre—the Nautilus Theatre—which is owned by the council, from memory. In the Barossa, Yorke and Mid North there is, of course, the Port Pirie theatre—

Ms Breuer: Keith Michel.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Yes, the Keith Michel Theatre; thank you. Of course, the Langbein Theatre is in the Barossa, which the member for Schubert so well described. He did very well out of that bit of largesse. It is an excellent investment in that community. So, each of those regions now has at least one theatre, and some have two. So, there is very good infrastructure.

In addition, through the Centres of Culture program, over time, we will provide an upgrade of spaces in other communities. For example, this year, which was Port Augusta's centre of culture year, through the grant of $1 million plus and in cooperation with the council, we have created a beautiful—I guess you could call it bijou—theatre in Port Augusta, a big open performance area in what was known as the old stables, and a new art gallery in was the courts area.

I do not know whether the member for Hammond has been to have a look at Port Augusta, but I recommend that he go and see what has happened there as a result of the Centres of Culture. It might be useful for him in the coming year. It has really created a fantastic art space which has been well used with a relatively modest investment by state government and local council. It has created great spaces which will allow Country Arts to program other activities there in the future.

Many members commented on the great role that Country Arts plays in South Australia. This is a fantastic organisation which was established when the Hon. Anne Levy was minister for the arts. It has brought together a whole range of organisations and individuals who provide arts to country people. I think it has been a very good organisation, and I am glad that it enjoys such strong bipartisan support. It has taken on some extra roles in the time that I have been the minister responsible for it: the Centres of Culture, which is a biennial event; the Fleurieu Arts Biennale, which they now look after and do very well; and the dinner, of course, as the member for Mawson will know, which celebrates the grand event of the Fleurieu Arts Biennale. That will be held this Saturday night in the Hardy Winery. Of course, the Hopgood Theatre has come into the fold as well, so that gives them greater resources to do their thing.

As many members have said, Ken Lloyd is an outstanding leader of Country Arts and he, and all his staff have great times and they work very hard to ensure that they provide a good range of arts to people in country South Australia. I think that is very important, and I am very pleased that I am responsible for it in the ministerial carve-up. I congratulate Ken, his team and his board, led by Steve Grieve, on the great work they do.

Finally, in moving this second reading, I thank not only Ken Lloyd but also Alex Reid and Helen Richardson of Arts SA, who have helped developed this legislation, and Rita Bogna, of Parliamentary Counsel, for her assistance with it. I commend this legislation to the house.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (16:20): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen) (16:20): I want to confirm what the minister said that, after hearing the contributions of the members on my side of this chamber and the member for Giles, I think they all made a wise career choice based on the adage that politics is theatre for ugly people. I often contemplate that saying as I sit in this place, particularly during question time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

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