CSO cries for parity with Darwin

Classy debate folks! Feel free to argue for more more funding for the Canberra Orchestra but you don’t have to drag the Darwin Orchestra down to do it.

The nearest publicly funded orchestra to Darwin is 3000 km away in Adelaide. Some of their funding goes to make possible playing in places like Alice Springs 1500 km away, in bush communities and remote parks to appreciative audiences that also travel huge distances to see them.

I’m sure the CSO does a great job but I doubt they ever get off the sealed roads to go and play and there are a few other orchestras within 3000 km of Canberra.

For what it’s worth it was the Howard government that bumped up the funding for the Darwin Orchestra and they still lost the Darwin seat at the 2007 election. The Federal funding for the DSO is about a third of what they get from the NT (Labor) government.

And what have our federal reps Bob McMullen, Kate Lundy, Annette Ellis and Gary Humphries had to say about it? At least you knew that Margaret Reid was out and about.

The skulls of animals, in order of their evolution.

Lagerphone + didge

Darwin has an orchestra?

What do they play – empty beer bottles?

So the smart thing to do would be to organise ourselves collectively to turn both Fraser and Canberra into marginal seats. So 10-15% of Labor voters need to vote Liberal even though they don’t really mean it, just to make things nice and marginal – then watch the pork roll in.