Alice Springs art gallery project: Calls for a Fed takeover ‘misguided and unhelpful’
A Territory pollie says comments around Federal intervention in a controversial art gallery project in the Red Centre are ‘misguided and unhelpful’ – but still wants federal government support the project.
Alice Springs
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Comments around Federal intervention in a controversial art gallery planned for the Red Centre are “misguided and unhelpful”, the Territory Treasurer says.
But one Federal MP says “maybe” the Commonwealth could help resolve the “stalemate” plaguing the project.
NT Treasurer Bill Yan said Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour’s comments on a potential federal takeover of the proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery of Australia (ATSIAGA) in Alice Springs were “misguided and unhelpful”.
“The CLP Government welcomes any further offer of support, or increase, in funding from the Federal Government for the ATSIAGA project,” he said.
“We’ll continue working closely with the Federal Government in the delivery of ATSIAGA.”
Mr Yan’s comment’s come as Ms Scrymgour told the ABC “if the Northern Territory Government and the Alice Springs Town Council and others can’t resolve this, is it time for the federal government to say, ‘We’ll take control here and we will put this in place’?”
Ms Scrymgour told the ABC she was “concerned” there had been “very little communication” with the federal government on downsizing the gallery.
Elaborating on this position when contacted by this masthead, Ms Scrymgour said “I didn’t say that the federal government should take over”.
“I said that if there’s going to be further delay, then maybe the federal government should play a greater role in terms of trying to resolve the stalemate – or the crossroads – we seem to find ourselves at with the art gallery,” she said.
Mr Yan said “agreements on the revised scope and design of ATSIAGA were shared with the Federal government at a department level”.
“The advice we received was the revised scope and design was acknowledged and noted by the Federal government,” he said.
The gallery – which the Federal government has put $80 million towards – was scaled back at the end of November in an announcement at Anzac Oval by Minister for Planning, Lands, and Environment Josh Burgoyne.
Mr Burgoyne said the project will stay within its $149m budget and will be completed by 2027.
When the new gallery was scaled back last month, Shadow Attorney-General Chansey Paech called the new plan “watered down” and called for the Federal government to reallocate the $80m in funding for project.
Originally planned for Anzac Oval, since taking power at the August election the CLP have been slowly scaling back the project – first by Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro halting works on the site in September.
The new plan has the gallery shifted onto the Wills Tce carpark, downsized from a four storey building to three, a reduced in size from 7000 sqm to 4000 sqm.
Additional parking will be built at the back of the oval, where Anzac Hill High School used to be.
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