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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-05 Daily Xml
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Aboriginal Art and Cultures Gallery

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:07): My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier read the disclaimer from the report commissioned by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet conducted by PwC regarding the Aboriginal Art and Cultures Gallery? Sir, with your leave and that of the house, I will explain.

The SPEAKER: Is leave granted?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right!

Leave granted.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The disclaimer published by PwC at the end of their report says:

Notice to any reader of the attached report

This Report has been prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and PricewaterhouseCoopers Indigenous Consulting Pty Limited (PIC) in accordance with the Official Order entered into by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) and PwC dated 23 January 2019 (Official Order) issued under the Audit and Financial Advisory Services Panel Contract between the State Procurement Board and PwC dated 28 November 2012, as extended from time to time.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Okay so far.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It's okay so far. It goes on:

The information, statements, statistics, material and commentary (together the 'Information') used in this Report have been prepared by PwC/PIC from publicly available material, from information provided by DPC and from discussions held with a range of stakeholders (as agreed with DPC). PwC/PIC have relied upon the accuracy, currency and completeness of the Information provided to it by DPC and the stakeholders and takes no responsibility for the accuracy, currency, reliability or correctness of the Information and acknowledges that changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the Information. The Information may change without notice and PwC/PIC is not in any way liable for the accuracy of any information used or relied upon by a third party.

Furthermore PwC/PIC has not independently validated or verified the Information provided to it for the purpose of the Report and the content of this Report does not in any way constitute an audit or assurance of any of the Information contained herein.

Think before you speak!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for West Torrens, members on my right! Before I call on the Premier, I warn the member for Chaffey, I warn the Minister for Innovation and Skills, I warn the Minister for Education.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:10): Never leave this parliament. We love the member for West Torrens being on the frontbench of the opposition—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and long may that continue. With support like that, what hope has the Leader of the Opposition ever got in South Australia? The point that he made is directly in contrast to the point made by his leader sitting two seats away.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We know the Labor Party is opposed to the new gallery. We don't know why they are opposed to the new gallery. What we know is that they are constantly talking it down. We believe that it will be transformational. We believe that is a very important Aboriginal art and cultures centre, a place that people will be able to visit for decades and decades to come.

We are not relying on one piece of advice. In fact, we've worked very hard to assemble a huge amount of advice for the development of this, I think, globally significant space. This will be able to showcase 65,000 years of Aboriginal stories and songlines. We've got incredible collections in our Art Gallery, we've got incredible collections in our SA Museum—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and in our State Library. More than that, we've got the ability to develop ongoing collections which can showcase this incredible legacy, this extraordinary opportunity.

We put $200 million into the budget for this centre and all we've heard from those opposite is negativity. The reality is this will be, I think, a great showcase for the oldest living civilisation on this earth, and to prepare for that we have very significantly upgraded the storage facilities we have in South Australia.

The most recent budget provided more than $80 million to address the legacy that we inherited from those opposite, where we had these incredibly valuable artefacts stored in a completely unacceptable situation down in the western suburbs. When it rained, members of the staff at the South Australian Museum had to go down and put plastic sheets over priceless objects. It was absolutely disgraceful. It was the same with the Art Gallery, and it's been the same with some of our other collecting institutions in South Australia.

People donate objects to this state in perpetuity so that we can preserve them and so that we can also display them to tell the stories of our state, yet they were in an appalling situation under those opposite. We have addressed that. We put $200 million into the budget to create something which I think will be an inspiration for the next generation. I think it will help us to change the narrative in South Australia, an opportunity for us to celebrate the wonderful achievements of Aboriginal Australians.

Whilst those opposite carp and complain—and laugh, which is so disrespectful, so incredibly disrespectful—we on this side of the house are very proud of the wonderful culture, multiple cultures that we have in South Australia, and we want to back it.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Waite, the member for West Torrens can leave for the remainder of question time in accordance with standing order 137A.

The honourable member for West Torrens having withdrawn from the chamber:

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

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