Minister supports precinct

CAIRNS growing arts precinct appears to be winning favour in Canberra, with the city held up as a “terrific example” of what a regional arts community should strive to achieve.

The comments were made by Federal Arts Minister Mitch Fifield in Cairns yesterday while announcing funds for a Torres Strait ghost nets exhibit bound for display in Singapore.

“One of the messages I spread around the country is that the arts is not something just for capital cities,” Mr Fifield said. “The arts are alive and well in the regions, and Cairns is a terrific example of that, and I think the whole community has a wonderful vision for this to be a centre of excellence for the arts.

“We’ve got a developing cultural precinct here and I think there’s a richness, there’s a vitality, and there’s not going to be difficulty in achieving this vision.”

The Cairns Regional Council purchased the Courthouse Hotel on Abbott Street for $5.75 million in December last year as part of its plan to turn the city into the arts capital of Northern Australia. The former pub is now set to become part of a “world-class cultural precinct” in the heart of the city.

Mr Fifield said while the council had not approached the Commonwealth for any funding for that project, the federal purse remained open.

“Local government plays a much more fundamental role I think in Queensland than in any other state,” he said. “I commend the vision they have, I’m always happy to ... talk.”

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch was impressed with how the council was managing its arts assets. “We’re well on the way to making something very special,” he said.