Norman Lacy - Minister For The Arts (1979-1982)

Minister For The Arts (1979-1982)

Norman Lacy's loyalty towards, and open support for, his leader, Premier Rupert Hamer was rewarded after the 1979 election by the Premier personally selecting him for his new Cabinet and giving him the Ministry for the Arts which until then had been held by Hamer. He was also made Assistant Minister of Education in support of another strong Hamer supporter, fellow small "l" liberal, Alan Hunt, who was appointed Minister of Education by Hamer after the 1979 election.

Lacy held the portfolio of Minister for the Arts from May 1979 to April 1982. During his Arts incumbency, he was responsible for the establishment of the Victorian Arts Centre Trust and for the construction of the theatres, concert hall and spire of the Victorian Arts Centre. During this period, Lacy's friendship with Peter Block was a most valuable resource. Block was a constant source of advice on many of the difficult issues that emerged in the critical construction phase of this major national project. Lacy was constantly called on to defend the Arts Centre Trust during some highly charged public debates in the Parliament. He had to defend the acoustics, the design of the spire, the rejection of the proposed changes to the Concert Hall interiors, the BASS ticketing system of the project, as well as its delays and cost over runs in debates that were often led by Opposition Leader John Cain.

In May 1980, prior to introducing the legislation to establish the management structure of the Victorian Arts Centre, he undertook a study trip with George Fairfax, the Centre's Executive Director to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington, Toronto, Ottawa, London and Paris to assess administrative structures at major performing arts centres in these cities. However, Lacy's relationship with Fairfax deteriorated soon afterwards when he had to inform Fairfax that he could not support the additional cost and waste that would be involved in shelving the already acquired Concert Hall interior fittings and finishes in favour of new designs that the Trust had commissioned by John Truscott and was then actively promoting. Being responsible for both the generously funded Arts, and the over stretched Education, building programs created a moral tension for Lacy. Nor was he impressed with the Trust going over his head to directly lobby the Treasurer for the extra multi-million dollar funding required for the proposed new interiors. In the end, he won the argument with his long standing mentor and friend, Treasurer Lindsay Thompson and the Truscott designs were dropped.

In March 1981, Lacy had the Victorian College of the Arts Act passed through the Victorian Parliament. Its purpose was the reconstitution of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) made necessary by the repeal in 1980 of the Victorian Institute of Colleges Act and to make it "better able to provide for the preparation of young people to enter upon careers as professional artists. It also represents a most significant development for the Victorian Arts Centre."

Lacy used his ministerial membership of the Australian Education Council and the Australian Arts Ministers' Conference to initiate the establishment of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. He appointed Dr Patricia Edgar to the Arts Ministry staff to steer the project, provided office space and establishment funding, and won the support of NSW Education Minister Paul Landa with whom he co-chaired the early steering committee meetings. In 1981, Lacy addressed the Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts arguing for the strategic and national importance of a Commonwealth commitment to recurrent funding for the fledgling Foundation. Lacy's political advocacy and practical support coupled with Edgar's intellectual capacity and lobbying skills eventually won through and the Australian Children's Television Foundation was born with funding support from the Commonwealth Government collectively matched by all the State governments except Queensland. The Foundation has continued to flourish into the 21st century under the dual leadership of Edgar as Executive Director and its long term Chairman and patron Janet Holmes à Court.

In October 1981 Lacy created Film Victoria as "a new statutory authority to be responsible for Government activities related to the production and distribution of film in Victoria including film for educational purposes". The Act that he had passed through the Victorian Parliament provided for Film Victoria to be established by the amalgamation the Victorian Film Corporation (as it had been constituted initially in 1976), the State Film Centre and sections of the Audio Visual Resources Branch of the Education Department of Victoria. The purpose of the amalgamation was to avoid the unnecessary duplication of functions by the three organisations; to enhance the capacity of the Government to meet the present and future media needs of Victorians; to simplify access to film materials and to enlarge the benefits to be derived from the use of such materials. Lacy saw this initiative as supportive and complementary to his push to have the Australian Children's Television Foundation established.

Other highlights of this period were:

• the acquisition of the property Heide II (in Bulleen east of Melbourne) and a collection of 113 art works from John and Sunday Reed in August 1980. Lacy's on-going support for this project saw the creation of a public art gallery, originally named Heide Park and Art Gallery, (but since 2006 as Heide Museum of Modern Art) which was officially opened in November 1981.
• the development of a museum policy for Victoria and of a submission for a Museum of Social and Poltical History at the Old Treasury Building to the Executive Committee of Victoria's 150th Anniversary Celebrations in July 1981.
• the provision of funding for, and the opening on 8 December 1981, of the National Book Council of Australia's Book House in Carlton, Victoria.
• the unveiling of the plaque on 13 August 1980 commemorating the centenary of the opening to the general public of the Exhibition Building on 29 May 1880.