[Greens-Media] More questions to be answered on National Academy of Music

[Hollo, Tim (Sen C. Milne)]

More questions to be answered on National Academy of Music

Canberra, Monday 24 November 2008

The Government could not deny that the two independent reviews of the
Australian National Academy of Music both recommended increased funding
to the Academy, not its closure, following questioning by the Greens in
Question Time today.

Minister Wong, representing Minister Garrett in the Senate, also avoided
explicitly answering a question regarding whether any Government
representatives had met with Glyn Davis or other representatives from
the University of Melbourne prior to the Academy's closure.

"Minister Garrett has repeatedly justified his closure of the Academy of
Music on the basis of independent reviews which in fact recommend its
expansion," said Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Arts Spokesperson,
Senator Christine Milne.

"The process here has been bizarre and unacceptable, raising an array of
questions for the Government and the University of Melbourne."

Minister Wong could not provide the Senate with a single precedent for
closing a teaching institution while promising to establish a
replacement 6 months later, seriously disadvantaging students who were
enrolled to study there. Neither could the Minister clarify the interim
arrangements that will be put in place for these students.

"These students were looking forward to an exciting year of tuition,
chamber music and orchestral experience that had been organised for them
by the Academy.
 
"The interim solution proposed by Minister Garrett ignores the bulk of
what makes the experience of learning at the National Academy so
valuable. Without any disrespect to the University of Melbourne, the
programs it runs are not geared to the specialist elite training that
the Academy's students enrolled for.

"You wouldn't dream of closing the Australian Institute of Sport and
sending top young athletes to a university while a new, similar body
under a different name was put in place. Why would you do that to
musicians?"

The Greens are calling for the National Academy to be fully funded for
its plans for 2009 and for any discussions as to its future to be
conducted while the Academy is operational, involving staff and students
in the planning process. It may be that, with appropriate examination,
the Government's concerns over existing administration can be allayed.

"The unseemly haste with which Minister Garrett closed the Academy,
without giving any reasonable explanation, raises too many questions. I
have asked the Minister many of these in Questions on Notice filed last
week. 

"The appropriate path would be to take time to discuss the future of
elite classical music training in Australia while the existing
institution continues to provide its world class services."

Tim Hollo 
Media and Communications Adviser 
Senator Christine Milne 
Australian Greens Deputy Leader
ph: (02) 6277 3588 
mob: 0437 587 562
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