Mrs MILLER - 2005-11-30
The Araluen Cultural Precinct is forced to close on Sundays. Next year’s theatre season has been halved and other programming is at risk, and the airconditioning needs attention. The minister said that she would intervene if necessary. Treasurer, it is necessary. Will you confirm that additional funds will be made available to Araluen? Will you also guarantee that your government will adequately cover and fund the Katherine Cultural Precinct? Or are these cultural precincts, which play such an important role in regional areas, to suffer as a result of your mismanagement of the Territory’s finances?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, Treasurer I am, and very proud to be Treasurer of the Northern Territory. However, these relate to a range of matters in the Arts portfolio. I refer them to the minister responsible for Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts, fondly referred to NRETA.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I thank the Treasurer for giving me this question. I pick up on the first point that the member for Katherine talked about, the proposed closure for Sundays. There has been authorisation, and there will be closures beginning from 24 December 2005 through to 9 January 2006. That has been agreed as that is the time when visitor numbers are quite low and a lot of those staff members - there are casual and full-time staff - are on holidays. There is that agreed closure.
Regarding Sunday - and I notice the member for Araluen did an adjournment on this last night and said that I was not aware of it - something in relation to the closure that was not authorised and that has not been agreed to is the Sunday closure. We are working with management. It is something that is an issue within the department for which we are looking at our priorities. Funding levels are, as always - as the member for Katherine is well aware of - a matter of balancing competing priorities. As I said, I am working with my department to look at the ongoing funding and planning, not just for Araluen, but the whole of the Arts and Museums area, in a more strategic way - which the CLP did not do in all the years that they were looking after this centre - to get better leverage from available funding.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, Treasurer I am, and very proud to be Treasurer of the Northern Territory. However, these relate to a range of matters in the Arts portfolio. I refer them to the minister responsible for Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts, fondly referred to NRETA.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I thank the Treasurer for giving me this question. I pick up on the first point that the member for Katherine talked about, the proposed closure for Sundays. There has been authorisation, and there will be closures beginning from 24 December 2005 through to 9 January 2006. That has been agreed as that is the time when visitor numbers are quite low and a lot of those staff members - there are casual and full-time staff - are on holidays. There is that agreed closure.
Regarding Sunday - and I notice the member for Araluen did an adjournment on this last night and said that I was not aware of it - something in relation to the closure that was not authorised and that has not been agreed to is the Sunday closure. We are working with management. It is something that is an issue within the department for which we are looking at our priorities. Funding levels are, as always - as the member for Katherine is well aware of - a matter of balancing competing priorities. As I said, I am working with my department to look at the ongoing funding and planning, not just for Araluen, but the whole of the Arts and Museums area, in a more strategic way - which the CLP did not do in all the years that they were looking after this centre - to get better leverage from available funding.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016