9 February 2012

Playing hardball on the Fitters' Workshop?

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times is carrying allegations by Helen Moore, of the Australian National University Choral Society that government funded arts organisations are keeping quiet on the Fitters’ Workshop mess for fear of losing their funding.

Ms Moore told the multi-party committee that arts groups were afraid to speak out for fear of losing government funding.

”ANU Choral Society is one of the few arts organisations that is not beholden to the ACT government for its livelihood and funding and other people feel very threatened about making overt criticisms of plans the government has so clearly endorsed,” Ms Moore told the committee.

”I can think of two people I will not name who have told me that if it was known that they had spoken to me, they would lose their livelihoods.

”I know second-hand of one person who was told her contract would be torn up if it was known what she said.”

Which sadly is how business is done in Canberra these days.

If you don’t want to take the Queen’s orders don’t go taking her shilling.

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I’m not sure that the so called ‘arts set’ are being machiavellian. I’m not even sure if the arts have anything to do with this debate anymore. Its the non arts set that are pulling the strings. Helen Moore is the voice piece for Vicki Dunn and probably a few other power brokers behind the scenes. The real losers in this debate will be the entire ACT community who will not only have to foot the bill for a stand alone purpose built building for Megalo – God knows how much that will cost!! and then also wear the ongoing costs and maintenance of a useless empty fitters building that no one will be able to afford to hire as you’ll have to hire chairs and stage, lighting, heating, fans and portaloos all at the same time. A total lemon! I wonder which side of politics will be happy to take responsibility for that mishap every election.

”I know second-hand of one person who was told her contract would be torn up if it was known what she said.”

But in order for her (the subject of the second-hand account) to be told this, the person threatening to tear up her contract would have to know what she said, in which case they would have torn up her contract.

Regardless, I wish that they’d just sort this out so we don’t have to hear about the machiavellian manoeuverings of the ACT arts set any longer.

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