Burns Brendon: Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Bill — First Reading 
Burns Brendon: Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:665;Page:13098] 
BRENDON BURNS (Labour—Christchurch Central) 
: 
 Labour is supporting the passage of the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Bill to the Government Administration Committee and that is appropriate. Arts are the mirror of our soul as a nation. It is rather like a man’s tie being a mirror of his soul and I compliment Mr Assistant Speaker Barker on his choice of tie. 
I note that this bill covers the arts sector which reflects our unique identity as New Zealanders. I must also note that it is a little sad that this legislation is not paralleled in the broadcasting sphere which is another window to our unique culture as New Zealanders. We do not see the unique identity of New Zealanders reflected in another bill before the Parliament in relation to Television New Zealand. None the less Labour is supporting any changes in efficiency that this bill is designed to introduce in respect of the arts culture of our nation. We support the bill being referred to the select committee and we will use that select committee process to put Creative New Zealand under the microscope. We want to see and ensure that the arts funding agency for our nation provides funding that reflects the principles of this bill. 
We have some reservations about the legislation. We have a concern that it might impede or even strangle some aspects of arts funding. We are very explicit that we want to see the maintenance of strong Maori and Pacific representation on the council and we are concerned that under the proposals this bill contains there will not be enough voices for those communities in the arts sector. Obviously we are concerned that the replacement of Te Waka Toi which has been a representative body for the Maori cultural and arts community will simply be enfolded into the Arts Council. We will look through the legislation at the select committee and we will question whether there will be sufficient representation not just for the Maori arts community but for those represented under the current structure for the Pasifika arts community and for the wider ethnic communities that often contribute so much to the cultural vibrancy that the arts now represents across our nation. We can think of people like Jacob Rajan and the series of plays that he has produced and delivered across this nation supported I believe by the previous Arts Council structure. It is really important that funding for those works is maintained under this reform legislation. 
Youth are not currently strongly represented in terms of the arts administrative structure. Youth of course can very often be the most innovative the most challenging and sometimes the most marginalised members of the arts community. It is important that we consider that they also need to have their voice heard in the administration of the arts in our nation. 
We are concerned that the legislation discontinues the current requirement of the Arts Council to present a strategic plan every 3 years although under the Crown Entities Act 2004 the Arts Council is already required to produce a statement of intent. If we do not have that kind of road map for the arts in terms of a strategic plan we have to ask where the direction will be coming from. If it is to come from the Minister then clearly we would have some disquiet about that. Those are the issues that we will be looking through in the select committee process. 
I want to talk for a moment about the importance of arts communities outside of the main centres of Wellington and Auckland as provided for in this legislation. I note for instance in my city of Christchurch how essential the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra is to the arts profile of our city. Indeed it goes wider than our city because people come from far and wide to hear the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra perform. It is a regional institution and it is a South Island institution. People drive from Nelson the West Coast and Timaru to attend a Christchurch Symphony Orchestra performance. We want to be assured that there will be embodied in this legislation strong voices for the arts of our regions because in the case of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra it provides more than just a feeder service to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; it provides very much a home for talented people and a training ground for people who may go on to international distinction in the arts and they deserve to be recognised. 
Just last week I went with Labour’s arts spokesperson the Hon Steve Chadwick to the Court Theatre in the heart of my electorate of Christchurch Central. It was an eye-opener for me to see the nature of the facilities that accord a very fine theatre and a theatre with a distinguished record of productions for over 20 or 30 years now. But the way the Court Theatre delivers its productions is extraordinary. The theatre is in a building that has very cramped facilities. A clutch of rabbit warrens out the back are provided for administration staff and other staff. The stage is limited and does not have any capacity to revolve. Obviously funding is the key to the current state of the Court Theatre and many other theatres across the nation. Although we know we are currently in recession I want to be assured that institutions in my city of Christchurch will not be penalised by a top-heavy Wellington-centric or Auckland-centric Arts Council into the future. We must have thriving arts communities outside our two major centres to ensure that our national sense of self is reflected through the arts. 
If we go beyond the bigger centres including Christchurch we look to centres like Blenheim where I lived for 14 years and recognise the importance to a community like that of having a public art gallery. The Millennium Art Gallery was opened in 2000 by Helen Clark who supported it through the process of establishment. I add that my wife was a founding trustee of the gallery. It continues to provide a platform for the arts in the community of Marlborough. It contains not just the highbrow stuff. I was at the opening 2 weeks ago of an exhibition of photographs taken by Peter Bush. Across the walls of the gallery were photographs that he had taken since 1948 which I think was the year he covered his first rugby test match. He was accompanied at the opening by Keith Quinn. Here was quintessential New Zealand culture: two icons of New Zealand rugby were displaying their craft by way of photographs taken by “Bushy” and by way of the wonderful commentary of Keith Quinn. It was a magical event and it can take place only in an environment like a properly funded gallery with the capacity to do justice to the photographs and to have the lighting and curatorial staff that can put together an exhibition like that. They ran sessions over that weekend with “Bushy” and Quinn to allow people to engage with the photographer and the raconteur. We need to be assured that under this new Arts Council legislation smaller communities like Marlborough are able to continue to provide arts services to their communities. 
We are obviously looking at this bill in respect of the way it empowers the establishment of community arts councils and the fact that under this bill the Arts Council may be able to appoint territorial authorities to administer community arts councils subject to the consent of the authority. We question whether this process looks likely to encourage foster and stimulate some of the avant-garde kinds of arts that really end up making a huge contribution to and mark on New Zealand. 
I think of the Wearable Arts Awards which started in a back garden. Suzie Moncrieff had the idea in Nelson some 20-plus years ago. It began was supported by the local community and became not just a Nelson phenomenon not just a Wellington phenomenon having moved to the capital but indeed an international phenomenon. It was supported by the arts community firstly in Nelson and then here in Wellington. We should consider the benefit that it has brought to us as a nation in terms of the return on those early days of small support and investment through the arts funding structure at the time. 
We support this bill. We want to make sure that it continues the good work that the Arts Council has done. We particularly want to see that smaller communities and centres outside of Auckland and Wellington are represented fostered encouraged and able to deliver a platform of arts when this bill is passed. We will support it going to the select committee. We encourage the Government to be open in the process so that we can be assured that into the future New Zealand arts will continue to thrive as a mirror on our soul which we all know is very important to us and our own sense of being New Zealanders.