To the Editor:

I think we all accept that the Tasmanian government needs to address the state’s projected deficit and growing debt as a matter of urgency. However, to take a fiscal knife to the state’s cultural institutions is surely not the way to proceed. The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is facing a cut in the region of 30% of its salary expenses, which will result in the institution losing numerous staff at all levels — 19.7 full-time equivalent positions according to a report in the ABC News app. Some have already gone; as others go it is hard to see how TMAG will be able to maintain its current high standard of operations into the future.

Thankfully, the CPSU has made this a public issue, which, of course TMAG staff have been unable to do. Disingenuously, the government has rejected the union’s claim and stated that TMAG is not required to reduce its staff by 30%. However, it has not denied that TMAG is required to cut its salary budget by something in the region of 30%. The government is therefore playing with semantics when it denies the staffing cuts; moreover, voluntary redundancies and natural attrition are strategies to reduce staffing levels that do not necessarily lead to cuts in the best places or ensure that this important cultural institution, arguably the most important cultural institution in the state, can continue to deliver the service that Tasmanians and visitors alike expect.

It is particularly poignant that cultural institutions like TMAG are again facing the razor while wealthy sports like the AFL and the NBL benefit from government largesse. Of course the stadium will attract visitors to Tasmania; but so do our cultural institutions.

As a committee member of the Friends of TMAG I help organise regular events for our members and the community at large that are invariably well attended. The government’s planned cuts put these events in jeopardy, too, as they can only proceed with the support of TMAG staff.

The barbarians are knocking at the door; we need to defend TMAG and other cultural institutions for our children and grandchildren, because once they have gone or their operations reduced, it will be hard to restore the knowledge and expertise that is lost.

Ralph Crane
Bellerive