Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – Thank you, honourable Speaker. I rise tonight to talk about the arts. After the last part of last week and a weekend where I feel satisfactorily cultured, I wanted to give a shout‑out to the arts and raise a few issues, because at the end of the day, art gives meaning to our lives and helps us understand the world. It is so critically important. It is important from a cultural perspective, an entertainment perspective, for activism, for expression and also for employment. Whether you are the artist or the consumer of art, it is also a contributor to your health and wellbeing and your mental health. There are more Tasmanians working in the creative and cultural fields here in Tasmania than anywhere else in Australia, at the highest rates in Australia.
I want to talk about some recent engagement that I have had, starting on Thursday night last at the Theatre Royal in nipaluna/Hobart, where I saw The Mousetrap, a really enjoyable production. Robyn Nevin was the director, Shake & Stir Theatre Company, and it is an absolute classic, and I want to acknowledge the Theatre Royal. It is Australia’s oldest theatre. It is a spectacular place. To go and see such a long‑running play as that in the Theatre Royal is a true pleasure, it really is. I also want to give a shout‑out to the staff of the Theatre Royal, because there was a medical emergency that interrupted the play. We had an early intermission. Someone up in the stalls had a medical emergency and there was a pause of probably half an hour or 40 minutes, which is an interesting thing and a difficult thing to manage for the staff. I thank them for keeping us continually updated about the show, when it was going to recommence and so forth, and also noting that it was the third consecutive medical episode that those poor staff had had to deal with in three consecutive nights. A shout‑out to the Theatre Royal, The Mousetrap and all of the artists and staff.
Last night on the adjournment I spoke about going to the Winter Feast and my experience there with YLOT. Obviously, MONA, DarkLab and the Winter Feast are synonymous with art and culture, particularly when it comes to winter and Dark Mofo. And while Dark Mofo is not currently on at the moment, having a slight hiatus period, the Winter Feast nonetheless creates a platform for many artists to do their thing. Not only the acts that get paid to perform there, and they are spectacular, but the food offerings themselves. The Heavy Metal Kitchen, for example, is a piece of art in itself, the way it goes about its business. Dark Mofo, while it is not on at the moment, the Winter Feast is on. It is incredibly important from an economic perspective, from a jobs perspective and from a brand perspective in these cold and dark winter periods.
On Sunday night I went straight on from there to the Odeon. It was so good to see that the Odeon has been saved from sale and from conversion to something else. I saw Kiwi crooner Marlon Williams, there. What a fantastic show. Completely just him on his own, no support act, no supporters, no band on stage, and the diversity of his contribution was incredible. He is a Maori performer from New Zealand, a real crooner and the culture that was just oozing from him on that evening, incredibly enjoyable. A performance that I enjoyed more when I reflected back on it and thought about his performance, how it was staged, how it was undertaken and it was really impressive.
I have been once and I want to go again to the Long Gallery at the Salamanca Arts Centre, because Art for takayna is on at the moment. The Bob Brown Foundation put this on every year and it is truly a spectacular event. It is on till 22 June. I encourage every member here to get along to it. Get out there in your lunchtime. There is a diversity of art. It raises awareness. Obviously, it is fundraising for a very good cause and the work that they do. It is a piece of activism and engagement in itself because all those artists have been out into the Tarkine to see it for themselves and produce their piece of work.
The Bay of Fires art show was on during the June long weekend and had prizes and a whole range of different exhibits, while A Taste of the Arts was organised by our own Braddon branch of the Greens on the north‑west coast. That was a really interesting exercise in harvesting the ideas of the community that participated in that show and publishing them. All of us as members have been sent some of the results of that.
Here in nipaluna we have Kickstart Arts and the Salamanca Arts Centre, and across the state there is a myriad of arts hubs, clubs and other groups that are participating in the creative function. Community organisations are critical when it comes to promoting the arts and delivering on the arts.
I finish with some encouragement on policy that we need to acknowledge and step up to deliver here in this state. First and foremost is making sure that there is fair pay for artists. Artists are critical for our community, and yet often they are expected to either perform for free or deliver their art for free. We need to make sure that artists get a living wage.
We need to make sure art organisations are actually supported. We have recently lost a couple of critical organisations – Blue Cow Theatre Company and Wide Angle Film – and it is not good enough. We must protect and keep these places. We need to give them creative spaces. We need to make sure that there is the infrastructure needed for these organisations to do their work.
I have spoken already in this place about the Salamanca Arts Centre lift and how utterly unacceptable it is that we have a premier arts organisation and showcase here in this city that is applying for disability exemption because the lift is not working.
Mr Jaensch – Is it working now?
Mr BAYLEY – No, it is not, and that was because the government failed or refused to spend the money needed to fix it.
We need to make sure that the freedom of speech of artists is protected. We need to make sure that artists can express themselves, because, whether it be political activism or environmental activity, art is critical to our soul and our future.
