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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-31 Daily Xml
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BLKMPIRE Music Program

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (15:10): My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. Can the minister advise how the Marshall Liberal government is building what matters and planning for the future by building skills of young Aboriginal musicians and creative collaborators?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (15:10): I thank the member for his question, and I commend him for his advocacy for the Aboriginal community in his electorate. In addition to initiating a dedicated Aboriginal Entrepreneur Hub at Lot Fourteen, my department's music development office is supporting the development of an industry-led initiative called BLKMPIRE. BLKMPIRE has been developed by Larrakia Nation man James Alberts, who lives in South Australia and is a professional musician and music and video—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Sir, I'm having trouble delivering this answer because of the interjections from the member for West Torrens.

The SPEAKER: Members will—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! If the Premier and the member for West Torrens wish to engage in a conversation in the course of question time, they are welcome to do so outside the chamber. The pursuit of a conversation between members across the floor is unacceptable and will cease. I just indicate to members: I apologise. I was momentarily distracted. I am endeavouring to listen to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. The Minister for Innovation and Skills has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: May I have my minute back, sir; thank you. BLKMPIRE has been developed by Larrakia Nation man James Albert, who lives in South Australia and is a professional musician and music and video content producer. Mr Alberts proposed BLKMPIRE while working with youth arts organisation Carclew to deliver Music at Work, a mentoring program funded by the Marshall government that demonstrates career opportunities in the music industry within high schools and builds on the government's music education strategy.

BLKMPIRE runs parallel to Music at Work as a creative and professional development program dedicated for aspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and music businesses, with a focus on collaborations across music and video production, dance, fashion and media production. These collaborations seek to empower young Aboriginal creatives to create high-quality intellectual property and content. This content tells current and relevant stories while building a support network of creative professionals around them.

Through the program's partnership with Carclew, BLKMPIRE targets Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students via the Music at Work programs. The strategies include young people for whom mainstream education isn't quite for them, looking for alternative ways to be engaged and alternative ways to follow their passion, as well as for aspiring music industry practitioners within our broader community.

BLKMPIRE provides connections and skills development opportunities with national industry mentors to support professional development and pathways for new, emerging and established creatives while providing a resource to help highlight barriers faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These include, in regional South Australia, through engagement with Carclew's Gig Rig program. We have seen enormous interest in the creative industries beyond Adelaide in recent years.

It has been an area that has grown in interest and employment opportunities, and programs like this will help give young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders more access to those opportunities. Since the commencement of the pilot program last year, BLKMPIRE has been well received, quickly becoming recognised as a dynamic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led music and creative industries incubator here in South Australia, delivering a range of outcomes, including a creative collaboration with the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy's graduating students and providing support for over 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

The Marshall government is building skills and providing opportunities for young people to pursue careers in the creative industries. What is important is that we have actually seen before COVID—of course, COVID did play a significant role in putting the brakes on the growth of jobs in creative industries—jobs in creative industries growing at twice the rate of jobs in industry in general, so this is a terrific area to invest in.

The Marshall government will support and continue the development of BLKMPIRE, injecting $75,000 to help build it from a successful pilot into a 10-month program. Thanks, of course, to the sponsorship of the University of South Australia, BLKMPIRE will soon operate from studio space in the Museum of Discovery, which of course is known as the MOD., at the west end of North Terrace.

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