First, in Melbourne, do something bold with the State Theatre. Okay, I m about to be undiplomatic, but here goes. It sounds like something from behind the iron curtain. Every capital city in Australia has now built an arts complex. Only Sydney was brave enough, or reckless enough, or may be ambitious enough, to build an Opera House .
People respond to strong signals.
This is really a point about education. There is nothing arcane about what we do in the arts. There can be something intellectually and certainly imaginatively ambitious about it. But people who participate, who play, who dance, who sing, express a natural and confident cultural ambition that leads directly to the concert hall auditorium or to the stage itself. Participation is the key, and the key to participation is providing opportunity.