CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : What a dull contribution that was from the soon-to-be failed Labour candidate for Nelson! Regional art galleries and museums are something we should all be really enthusiastic about, and one of the real pleasures I have had since I became National’s spokesperson on the arts has been to travel around the country and see the depth and excellence of regional art galleries.
I am sure there are some people in Wellington Central, excluding yourself, Madam Assistant Speaker—not that I am bringing you into the debate—who would very much think that Te Papa is the centre of civilisation when it comes to art. There could well be some Aucklanders who think that the Auckland Art Gallery is the very centre of civilisation when it comes to art. But I have to tell members that Aucklanders or Wellingtonians who think that would be wrong, because the regional art galleries around New Zealand are simply excellent and they have some wonderful collections.
I see my friend the member for Invercargill in the Chamber. The Anderson Park Art Gallery is an example of a superb gallery. My friend Jo Goodhew, the member for Aoraki, has a wonderful gallery in her town of Timaru, called the Aigantighe Art Gallery. If one goes up the east coast of the North Island one sees a fantastic gallery in Hawke’s Bay. It is in need of expansion but it plays a major part in the cultural life of Hawke’s Bay. When one goes to Gisborne, the home of my friend Mrs Anne Tolley, again one sees an excellent gallery. If one goes to Wanganui, the home of my friend Mr Borrows, one sees a tremendous gallery that has a great deal of potential. The gallery that, perhaps, I love most of all is the gallery in New Plymouth, the Govett-Brewster, and the tremendous work it is doing to build the Len Lye Centre.
Those galleries play their part in the cultural life of New Zealand, but particularly I want to refer this afternoon to the Bishop Suter Art Gallery, which has been around, as my friend Dr Smith said, for many years. It is an excellent gallery. It houses a wonderful collection of the paintings of Toss Woollaston, perhaps one of the finest New Zealand artists. I really enjoy his watercolours, and the Suter has an excellent selection of Woollaston works. As the previous speaker has said, there are also some Gullys, but I have to say that one of the things that really worries me about the Bishop Suter gallery is that it lacks adequate storage and particularly adequate air conditioning for its storage. I have seen the state of some of its works, and it is a source of concern, and that is why it is important that this body be properly structured and properly funded so that it can undertake this very important work.
As one can see, I have enthusiastically travelled around New Zealand looking at art galleries and museums. I see their potential, and I particularly see the potential of the Bishop Suter gallery. Now, I wonder whether the current Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage has had the same enthusiasm for travelling around New Zealand that I have had. Probably not; I think she has probably been too busy down in the sewer trying to dig up dirt on John Key. I have to commend her this afternoon for her excellent imitation of Richard Nixon smearing his opponents. It was a performance par excellence. But let us get on to the bill--
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Marian Hobbs): Please do.
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Well, I am getting on to it, but I am allowed to make some comments in passing. Surely freedom of speech is not destroyed yet, although with the Electoral Finance Act we are well on the way.
But I want to say something about the structure of the bill, because the bill has a couple of essential purposes. The first one—and it is self-evident if one has been dealing with the introduction of this legislation—is that the Bishop Suter Art Gallery Trustees Act 1896 will be repealed, and that is a positive development as long as it is replaced with something, and indeed it is. It will be replaced with a new governance structure, which is set out in this legislation. The second purpose of the bill is to transfer all the property, rights, and obligations of the current trust board to a new organisation called the Bishop Suter Trust, and, flowing on from that, there is another purpose, which is to dissolve the existing trust board and remove it from the register of charitable trust boards under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957. When those rights and obligations are transferred to the new body, it is necessary that the persons who take over those obligations should have no legal liability for donations that have been given to the soon-to-be dissolved trust board for the redevelopment of the Suter gallery.
Those provisions are contained particularly in Part 3 of the bill, and I do not need to go through those in any detail, because there have been plans for some time to upgrade the Bishop Suter Art Gallery, and, indeed, as I said in the earlier part of my speech, that upgrading is an essential task. I am very concerned that if the body does not get on to upgrading, some of its precious works will be destroyed.
I also commend the member for Nelson for his careful sponsorship of this bill. It is an important bill. It does not simply deal with boring, legal structures but it also lays the foundations for modernising this gallery, which plays such an important role in the cultural life of his wonderful city. I have to say—and one obviously does not want to upset other representatives of provincial electorates in this House—that Nelson is one of the real centres of arts and culture in this country. Every couple of years it gives me huge pleasure to go down to Nelson to enjoy the Adam Chamber Music Festival. I am a trustee of Denis Adam’s foundation, and I know what a huge contribution he makes to Nelson, and to Nelson cultural life. I really enjoy my sojourns in Dr Smith’s wonderful electorate to go to that particular festival. When I am there, I too like to spend some time in the gallery, because it is an exciting gallery. It has wonderful work, a very good curator, and a very dedicated and caring group of people.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to speak on the bill. It is a local bill that deals with particular issues, but the backdrop to this bill is very important indeed. It is all about looking after a real cultural gem in New Zealand and making sure that the wonderful city represented so ably in Parliament by my outstanding friend Dr Nick Smith—and there will not be any change there—has an excellent gallery that can play its part in the cultural life of not just Nelson but beyond, throughout New Zealand. I know that people go to Nelson for its cultural life, and the Bishop Suter Art Gallery is very much part of the cultural life of Nelson.
I see my friend the member for Invercargill in the Chamber. The Anderson Park Art Gallery is an example of a superb gallery. My friend Jo Goodhew, the member for Aoraki, has a wonderful gallery in her town of Timaru, called the Aigantighe Art Gallery. If one goes up the east coast of the North Island one sees a fantastic gallery in Hawke’s Bay. It is in need of expansion but it plays a major part in the cultural life of Hawke’s Bay. When one goes to Gisborne, the home of my friend Mrs Anne Tolley, again one sees an excellent gallery. If one goes to Wanganui, the home of my friend Mr Borrows, one sees a tremendous gallery that has a great deal of potential. The gallery that, perhaps, I love most of all is the gallery in New Plymouth, the Govett-Brewster, and the tremendous work it is doing to build the Len Lye Centre.
Those galleries play their part in the cultural life of New Zealand, but particularly I want to refer this afternoon to the Bishop Suter Art Gallery, which has been around, as my friend Dr Smith said, for many years. It is an excellent gallery. It houses a wonderful collection of the paintings of Toss Woollaston, perhaps one of the finest New Zealand artists. I really enjoy his watercolours, and the Suter has an excellent selection of Woollaston works. As the previous speaker has said, there are also some Gullys, but I have to say that one of the things that really worries me about the Bishop Suter gallery is that it lacks adequate storage and particularly adequate air conditioning for its storage. I have seen the state of some of its works, and it is a source of concern, and that is why it is important that this body be properly structured and properly funded so that it can undertake this very important work.
As one can see, I have enthusiastically travelled around New Zealand looking at art galleries and museums. I see their potential, and I particularly see the potential of the Bishop Suter gallery. Now, I wonder whether the current Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage has had the same enthusiasm for travelling around New Zealand that I have had. Probably not; I think she has probably been too busy down in the sewer trying to dig up dirt on John Key. I have to commend her this afternoon for her excellent imitation of Richard Nixon smearing his opponents. It was a performance par excellence. But let us get on to the bill--
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Marian Hobbs): Please do.
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Well, I am getting on to it, but I am allowed to make some comments in passing. Surely freedom of speech is not destroyed yet, although with the Electoral Finance Act we are well on the way.
But I want to say something about the structure of the bill, because the bill has a couple of essential purposes. The first one—and it is self-evident if one has been dealing with the introduction of this legislation—is that the Bishop Suter Art Gallery Trustees Act 1896 will be repealed, and that is a positive development as long as it is replaced with something, and indeed it is. It will be replaced with a new governance structure, which is set out in this legislation. The second purpose of the bill is to transfer all the property, rights, and obligations of the current trust board to a new organisation called the Bishop Suter Trust, and, flowing on from that, there is another purpose, which is to dissolve the existing trust board and remove it from the register of charitable trust boards under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957. When those rights and obligations are transferred to the new body, it is necessary that the persons who take over those obligations should have no legal liability for donations that have been given to the soon-to-be dissolved trust board for the redevelopment of the Suter gallery.
Those provisions are contained particularly in Part 3 of the bill, and I do not need to go through those in any detail, because there have been plans for some time to upgrade the Bishop Suter Art Gallery, and, indeed, as I said in the earlier part of my speech, that upgrading is an essential task. I am very concerned that if the body does not get on to upgrading, some of its precious works will be destroyed.
I also commend the member for Nelson for his careful sponsorship of this bill. It is an important bill. It does not simply deal with boring, legal structures but it also lays the foundations for modernising this gallery, which plays such an important role in the cultural life of his wonderful city. I have to say—and one obviously does not want to upset other representatives of provincial electorates in this House—that Nelson is one of the real centres of arts and culture in this country. Every couple of years it gives me huge pleasure to go down to Nelson to enjoy the Adam Chamber Music Festival. I am a trustee of Denis Adam’s foundation, and I know what a huge contribution he makes to Nelson, and to Nelson cultural life. I really enjoy my sojourns in Dr Smith’s wonderful electorate to go to that particular festival. When I am there, I too like to spend some time in the gallery, because it is an exciting gallery. It has wonderful work, a very good curator, and a very dedicated and caring group of people.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to speak on the bill. It is a local bill that deals with particular issues, but the backdrop to this bill is very important indeed. It is all about looking after a real cultural gem in New Zealand and making sure that the wonderful city represented so ably in Parliament by my outstanding friend Dr Nick Smith—and there will not be any change there—has an excellent gallery that can play its part in the cultural life of not just Nelson but beyond, throughout New Zealand. I know that people go to Nelson for its cultural life, and the Bishop Suter Art Gallery is very much part of the cultural life of Nelson.
