Cultural tourism gem

HENRY Reynolds’ brilliant article on the magnificent Treasury Buildings highlights what a great asset they are for our community (Talking Point, December 8). The Government seems to see them as a problem, but in fact they represent a unique opportunity to become part of an inner-city cultural hub. It’s clear that the community wants to retain them in public use. So many cities internationally would give their eye teeth to have such a development opportunity. The complex is of major national heritage importance. State and federal governments should work together to develop such a centre, making Hobart even more attractive for tourism. Cultural tourism has grown enormously and Mona alone has been a major drawcard for Hobart. If the Treasury was developed as Henry Reynolds proposes, it would balance beautifully with Mona. We need to be visionary about these, our most important heritage buildings. It would be very short-sighted to miss out on the longterm cultural, social and economic benefits they can bring to Hobart. had many opportunities to listen to our indigenous brothers and sisters. The “message from the heart” statement was ignored. Here in Tasmania our representatives chose to go ahead with the contentious Brighton bypass route. A site significant to everyone, because we are a part of the story now.

We seem to be repeating our past mistakes, either through ignorance or fear. The increased influx of tourists has again led us to a crossroads. The opportunity is once again there to sit down and properly listen to the Aboriginal elders. Perhaps Sue Hickey’s actions point to the abandonment of counter-productive combative behaviour and point to a new collaborative and humanistic approach that would genuinely benefit all of us. ey’s claim to be both a small “l” liberal and a colourblind independent doesn’t add up. Her election material gave no indication of her independent policy program. As a result, Tasmanians have ended up with exactly what they voted against by a significant majority — governance by a de facto Labor/Green alliance on an unpredictable range of issues of her choosing. Tasmania’s system of voting does not provide for by-elections. Ms Hickey should stand down and enable a countback of votes. She could then take a leaf out of Andrew Wilkie’s book and present herself at the next state election as a genuine independent.