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The art of withdrawal Member for Flinders Liz Penfold has called on the state Arts Minister, Premier Mike Rann, to fill the vacancy in the Southern Eyre Peninsula office of Country Arts SA as a matter of social justice. She said volunteers on Eyre Peninsula are already stretched in maintaining arts activities that are paid for by the state government in other regional centres. “One of the benchmarks of civilisation is the extent to which arts (in the widest sense of the term) are available in a community,” she said. “The transfer of the Port Lincoln arts officer to Adelaide with no replacement is yet another example of the Labor state government’s withdrawal of services to rural and regional South Australia, and the downgrading of our quality of life,” she said. Mrs Penfold said the Port Lincoln office will be managed by Sue Dubois, of Wudinna, who is the manager of the Western Region Country Arts. She said the outgoing arts officer, Michele Johnson, will be missed. “She has been efficient, friendly and always ready to help, but for some months she has not been allowed to actively spend time here in the job she was officially given. “Port Lincoln and districts can justly feel betrayed by this latest removal of a service that is provided to other centres,” Mrs Penfold said. “Our share of state or grant funding for the arts has traditionally been low and recently it has been non existent. “Our wonderful local volunteers in the arts are feeling justifiably disillusioned,” Mrs Penfold said. ENDS |
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