[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Pressure Grows on Govt over Neptune Statue_C O'Connor MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

NEPTUNE CONTROVERSY TYPICAL OF UNACCOUNTABLE LABOR
 
Community Wants Govt to Follow Proper Process

Cassy O'Connor MP
Greens Shadow Tourism and Arts Spokesperson

Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Bartlett Labor government to
acknowledge the hundreds of local people who rallied in Devonport last
Sunday against the controversial purchase and proposed installation of a
five-metre high bronze statue of Neptune at the mouth of the Mersey
River.

Greens Shadow Tourism and Arts spokesperson Cassy O'Connor MP said the
rally demonstrates the significant public concern that exists in
Devonport about the erection of this statue, as well as the process (or
lack thereof) that led to the Bartlett government allocating $180 000
without advertising for alternatives or allowing other artists to tender
their own work.

Ms O'Connor also said that the Bartlett government needs to ensure that
public art installations have broad community support before allocating
large sums of taxpayer dollars to individual artists for artworks that
have not gone through an advertising or tendering process.  

"Public art installations require broad community support, but the
Bartlett government's decision to allocate $180 000 of taxpayer's funds
towards this project was made on the strong advice of one of its own -
Labor MP Brenton Best," said Ms O'Connor.

"A significant percentage of the community is unhappy about Bartlett
Labor allocating $180 000 of public money for public artwork on the say
of one person, and without advertising or calling for tenders from other
artists - it may be typical Labor behaviour, but it has made a lot of
people in Devonport very angry."

"Without broad community support, public art installations fail. They
fail to inspire the community, with the majority simply pretending that
the installation doesn't exist and proceed to ignore them."

"What is the point of spending $180 000 of public money on something the
community does not want and that does not refect Tasmanian culture or
wealth of artistic talent?'

"Pursuing this unpopular proposal blindly in the face of such strong
community sentiment, without exploring any of the alternative options
that have been raised, can only be described as sheer
bloody-mindedness."




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