Canberra could be the hub of the performing arts in regional NSW

Canberra needs its very own Poet Laureate.

Then we have a start to a much-needed focus on the arts, not just words but a true focus.

In the world of policy, the arts are often seen as hardly the most important sector for money – but for lots of words (that rarely rhyme).

Yet every great civilisation and society had well-developed performing arts.

The ancient Greeks had culture-changing dramas; the Chinese had their first theatres around 1600 BCE.

The oldest surviving poem is the Epic of Gilgamesh from the 3rd millennium BCE. The oldest artworks are cave paintings and engraved shells and bones, going back over 500,000 years.

Singing has been around since voices have been.

Photography, as an art, amazingly, occurred at exactly the same time cameras were invented. And so forth.

The ACT, the Canberra Polis, is always full of talented artists, performers, directors, musicians, dramatists, impresarios, composers, singers, pianists, painters, sculptors, poets, photographers, puppeteers, writers, caricaturists, and the list goes on.

There could be, in my opinion, as many as 5000 public servants, health workers, lawyers, journalists, tradies, academics and teachers who also perform in bands and plays and paint and write and would love to do that as a living – if it paid enough.

Has the ACT had good artists come from or dwell in our suburbs or environs in the past? Yes.

First off the rank, there is Lyn Fuller OAM, who is the national carillonist of Australia – what a great job and job title. How many countries have a national carillonist? I hope it pays well, but I suspect not.

There are many others: Steve Kilbey, the lead singer of The Church; the three stars from the Doug Anthony All Stars, Paul McDermott, Tim Ferguson and Richard Fidler; Richard Tognetti, a world-renowned violin soloist, among the many other artful skills he possesses; the late Stevie Plunder from The Whitlams; Abby Dobson, the vocalist for the award-winning duet, Leonardo’s Bride; Fred Smith the troubadour diplomat, a well-loved local singer-songwriter; the fabulous Sigrid Thornton; the great poet A D Hope; the group of women authors known as ‘The Seven Writers’ – Dorothy Johnston, Margaret Barbalet, Sara Dowse, Suzanne Edgar, Marian Eldridge, Dorothy Horsfield and the late great Marion Halligan; the local poet Geoff Page OAM; the award-winning poet Emily Stewart.

Then there is the poet Judith Wright, nominated many times for a Nobel prize, who lived for a long period in Braidwood so she could be closer to her long-term secret lover H C ‘Nugget’ Coombs (poetry and love stories are so excellent, full of passion).

Nugget Coombs did much for Australia’s economy and society, including establishing the arts as an important part of government policy and focus.

Wonderfully, the new suburbs named Wright and Coombs will be next to each other in Molonglo. Only romantics should reside in those suburbs.

There are many, many other Canberrans who are worthy – forgive me for not mentioning you or them.

I once owned Smiths Alternative Bookshop in the Melbourne Building in Civic and installed a café and a wine bar and live music and events to try to get people to come and buy more books.

The bookshop-performance mix didn’t work so well for me, but these days an expert impresario runs those premises as a full-time performance venue, and it is a place of fame and entertainment wonder with live music and other events.

This also applies to other private theatre venues such as the Mill Theatre, Canberra Rep and ACT Hub.

The government supports public venues and centres – good on them. But do they support private venues?

If the government wants a sustainable arts sector, then it needs to swallow their ideology and put some money into those who take artistic risks – the arts entrepreneurs.

At the national level, the federal government’s Revive Program for private-sector performing arts looks good.

Are we taking advantage of it? Are we a centre of the arts?

We could provide a place for those from our own territory but also for those from places like Wagga Wagga and further into the Riverina, Goulburn, the South Coast, the Snowies, even up to Dubbo and Orange.

There are all the places between those centres. It was in the little town of Grenfell that Henry Lawson was born.

What could happen is that Canberra becomes known for the support it provides two parts of the arts: the gifted amateurs who do something as a hobby, for fun, or friendship, or to use their natural talents while earning good money elsewhere.

Then we have the business side, those who make a living from the arts, hopefully from full-time work or at least a decent income from a part-time business or part-time work.

The business side will provide jobs and incomes and further the health of the community. The business side can provide sustainability of the arts.

Let’s support our artists.

Declaring a poet laureate won’t cost much, but it sends a powerful message. Judith Wright and Nugget Coombs would’ve loved it.

Peter Strong was a Canberra business owner and CEO of the Council of Small Business Australia (COSBOA) for 11 years. He has announced his candidacy as an independent in the 2024 ACT election.