Street Maryan: Bishop Suter Art Gallery Governance Restructuring Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
Street Maryan: Bishop Suter Art Gallery Governance Restructuring Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:17137] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 I rise also to support the second and third readings of the Bishop Suter Art Gallery Governance Restructuring Bill. The Suter is New Zealand’s third-oldest public art gallery and it is a regional treasure in the Nelson-Tasman area. It was in fact the first building in New Zealand to be constructed solely for the purpose of displaying art and it has been an intrinsic part of the cultural fabric of Nelson and the area ever since. The Suter was created as a memorial to Andrew Burns Suter who was the bishop of Nelson for a long time from 1866 to 1891 and it was built to house a gift of his paintings donated by his widow Amelia Suter to the people of Nelson. It has been governed by a trust established under an Act of Parliament ever since then. 
The Suter houses some extraordinary artworks and art collections of which the Nelson people are extraordinarily proud. It houses wonderful collections of work by Sir Toss Woollaston and John Gully famous artists who have added to the identity not only of the Nelson region but also of this country. The idea of national identity is embodied profoundly in the arts and the creative industries and those very arts and creative industries are facets of the Nelson and Tasman communities and part of what makes the area a really lovely place in which to live. It also makes the area a unique place in which to live. The cultural and artistic contributions of Nelsonians are famous throughout the country. The Suter is also known for its ceramic collections. It has played a big part in—cementing I suppose—firming up Nelson’s reputation as an arts centre and together with Nelson’s natural beauty it has turned the area into a tourist Mecca which is not to put too strong a point on it. 
The trust that now governs the Suter is independent of the Nelson City Council but both the city council and the Suter itself have been seeking support for a change to be made to the Bishop Suter Art Gallery Trustees Act and this bill provides that change. The two submissions that the Local Government and Environment Committee heard came from the same person Sari Hodgson representing two different capacities and she is to be congratulated on making those submissions. She made her submissions as the chair of the Suter trust as it was under the existing legislation and as somebody with a passionate interest in the arts communities in Nelson and neither of her submissions attracted any contradiction from anywhere around Parliament. 
This Government has been an active promoter of the arts and the creative industries and if we were to ask anybody in the Nelson arts communities whether that is true he or she would say yes. Those people give a constant and ringing endorsement to this Government’s promotion support and enhancement of the arts and the creative industries across the board. 
This legislation modernises the structures under which the Bishop Suter Art Gallery will operate. It makes them not only more modern but more fitting. It applies a level of democratic accountability to the structure for the governance of the art gallery by incorporating it as a new trust board registered under the Charitable Trusts Act that is a council-controlled organisation of the Nelson City Council. I congratulate all of those who have been active in the promotion of this modernisation of the governance arrangements around the Suter Gallery. I too wish to pay a tribute to David Farnsworth for the work he has done to promote this bill and make it a reality. I commend the previous speaker for bringing the bill to the House. It was never going to be a contentious issue because it was something that seemed to be appropriate for the time and a good thing to do not only because it was supported by all the significant players around the Suter but also because it does bring the gallery into a much more modern framework. Through the connection with the city council the framework underscores a level of democratic accountability and the new trust board will be ably led as the trust has been in the past. In its new guise it will continue to be chaired very ably by the wonderful Craig Potton. I look forward to the Suter and the new trust board going from strength to strength. 
This bill follows a review that was initiated in 2005 and had as its purpose a view that local councils and therefore the public should be given greater involvement in the Suter’s governance and decision-making processes. That is I suppose the angle the direction from which democratic accountability can be inferred. The bill will vest the assets and liabilities of the Bishop Suter Art Gallery Trust Board in the new Bishop Suter Trust and that will be a new Nelson City Council - controlled organisation. 
The Suter Gallery is a jewel in Nelson’s crown. It is a lovely place. It is a place where I must say I spend increasing amounts of time because any number of functions openings and events are held at the art gallery and apart from that it is simply a lovely place in which to spend time meet friends and look at the carefully curated and I must say beautifully presented exhibitions. If people have not seen the current one they might take my reference to Sir Toss Woollaston to heart. If people are passing through Nelson I suggest they do stop at the Suter and look at the very significant collection that is there currently. This bill is non-contentious; it is a desirable and a good thing to do. I congratulate the select committee on returning the bill unharmed and I congratulate the House on allowing it to proceed to its second and third readings in one stroke.