❓ The Minister for Culture and the Arts details the reopening of the Gwoonwardu Mia Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Carnarvon, highlighting its potential for tourism, job creation, and celebrating Indigenous culture, while contrasting the current government's actions with the previous government's inaction.
AnsweredQoN 1043Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GWOONWARDU MIA ABORIGINAL
CULTURAL CENTRE
1043. Mr D.T. PUNCH to the Minister for Culture and the Arts:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's investment in cultural facilities across regional Western Australia.
Can the minister update the house on how the reopening of the Gwoonwardu Mia
Aboriginal cultural centre will provide new tourism experiences in the region
and support local business?
CULTURAL CENTRE
1043. Mr D.T. PUNCH to the Minister for Culture and the Arts:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's investment in cultural facilities across regional Western Australia.
Can the minister update the house on how the reopening of the Gwoonwardu Mia
Aboriginal cultural centre will provide new tourism experiences in the region
and support local business?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Bunbury for
his question.
This is a very important and
wonderful opportunity for the people in the Gascoyne, particularly those in
Carnarvon. Last Thursday, I was in Carnarvon with the Minister for Regional
Development, Hon Alannah MacTiernan, to celebrate with the community there,
particularly the Aboriginal community, the reopening of this important facility
known as the Gwoonwardu Mia Aboriginal cultural centre.
As you may be aware, Mr Speaker,
the previous Labor government built that cultural centre in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, it closed in 2015. Essentially, it
lay almost derelict throughout the period of the previous government . It
was sad that the previous government did not see the importance of this centre
and work towards reopening it, because it is
a magnificent facility that sits along the entrance road into the Carnarvon
town site. It has huge potential . But
it took a Labor government, through the tenacity of the Minister for Regional Development,
to ensure that this facility was reopened. Unlike the local member
there, she worked closely with the people of Carnarvon, particularly Indigenous
groups, to make sure the reopening of this centre was realised. Hon Alannah
MacTiernan approached me, as Minister for Culture and the Arts, seeking support
from the Western Australian Museum. That is
an important step, because the Western Australian Museum will now manage the
centre in close consultation with the Indigenous traditional owners of
the area. The museum will work towards ensuring it not only delivers a quality tourism product but also celebrates the rich
Indigenous history of the area and creates training and job opportunities.
This is a very, very big investment
in a regional cultural centre of this nature. We look forward now, through the investment by the McGowan government, to ensuring
that the broader community is embraced in this re-established , reopened
centre. We will see training opportunities. The cafe will begin catering for
events within the cultural centre and outside opportunities as well. We will
see some training opportunities for young people, particularly through tourism
opportunities now that the centre has reopened. It has huge potential also for
Indigenous arts. We know the Gascoyne region has some magnificent Indigenous
artists. This will be a gravitational place for many of those artists to ensure
that they have their works celebrated and exhibited. It will also, of course,
enable people visiting the region, from within the state, interstate and
overseas, to see the wonderful, wonderful rich cultural history within the
Gascoyne region celebrated through this centre.
I applaud the Indigenous community
there; the Shire of Carnarvon; the other key stakeholders, including local
businesses; and the schoolchildren. There were several hundred people at the
opening on Thursday. They were very positive
about the future of this magnificent centre. It will deliver a high-quality
tourism product and tourism and job opportunities for people in that
region, particularly the Indigenous people. It is another example of this
government delivering high-quality infrastructure and opportunities to the
people of Western Australia in a consultative way by working with the broader
community, unlike and contrasting starkly with the lack of effort by anybody on
that side when they were in power when they let that centre remain closed. We
have reopened it. It is a great thing for Carnarvon and a great thing for the
Gascoyne region.
his question.
This is a very important and
wonderful opportunity for the people in the Gascoyne, particularly those in
Carnarvon. Last Thursday, I was in Carnarvon with the Minister for Regional
Development, Hon Alannah MacTiernan, to celebrate with the community there,
particularly the Aboriginal community, the reopening of this important facility
known as the Gwoonwardu Mia Aboriginal cultural centre.
As you may be aware, Mr Speaker,
the previous Labor government built that cultural centre in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, it closed in 2015. Essentially, it
lay almost derelict throughout the period of the previous government . It
was sad that the previous government did not see the importance of this centre
and work towards reopening it, because it is
a magnificent facility that sits along the entrance road into the Carnarvon
town site. It has huge potential . But
it took a Labor government, through the tenacity of the Minister for Regional Development,
to ensure that this facility was reopened. Unlike the local member
there, she worked closely with the people of Carnarvon, particularly Indigenous
groups, to make sure the reopening of this centre was realised. Hon Alannah
MacTiernan approached me, as Minister for Culture and the Arts, seeking support
from the Western Australian Museum. That is
an important step, because the Western Australian Museum will now manage the
centre in close consultation with the Indigenous traditional owners of
the area. The museum will work towards ensuring it not only delivers a quality tourism product but also celebrates the rich
Indigenous history of the area and creates training and job opportunities.
This is a very, very big investment
in a regional cultural centre of this nature. We look forward now, through the investment by the McGowan government, to ensuring
that the broader community is embraced in this re-established , reopened
centre. We will see training opportunities. The cafe will begin catering for
events within the cultural centre and outside opportunities as well. We will
see some training opportunities for young people, particularly through tourism
opportunities now that the centre has reopened. It has huge potential also for
Indigenous arts. We know the Gascoyne region has some magnificent Indigenous
artists. This will be a gravitational place for many of those artists to ensure
that they have their works celebrated and exhibited. It will also, of course,
enable people visiting the region, from within the state, interstate and
overseas, to see the wonderful, wonderful rich cultural history within the
Gascoyne region celebrated through this centre.
I applaud the Indigenous community
there; the Shire of Carnarvon; the other key stakeholders, including local
businesses; and the schoolchildren. There were several hundred people at the
opening on Thursday. They were very positive
about the future of this magnificent centre. It will deliver a high-quality
tourism product and tourism and job opportunities for people in that
region, particularly the Indigenous people. It is another example of this
government delivering high-quality infrastructure and opportunities to the
people of Western Australia in a consultative way by working with the broader
community, unlike and contrasting starkly with the lack of effort by anybody on
that side when they were in power when they let that centre remain closed. We
have reopened it. It is a great thing for Carnarvon and a great thing for the
Gascoyne region.
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