Brisbane’s arts scene is being held back under the Labor Government.
The winning proposal for the Queen’s Wharf project included a new 1500-seat theatre. But the Labor Government decided to start a costly business case for the venue three years ago.
The business case for the theatre was due by the end of last year. Today, we learned the Labor Government has put consideration of the business case on hold until a market-led proposal is considered, but Labor didn’t provide any timeframes.
The Labor Government’s track record means the likelihood of a second theatre for Brisbane is not good.
Nearly 99 per cent of market-led proposals under Labor have stalled or been rejected.
Brisbane’s art scene needs a second theatre to thrive.
Even Disney’s global theatre boss Thomas Schumacher backed a new Brisbane venue. All stakeholders are calling for this infrastructure and now Labor is stalling.
The great trade-off for the theatre was to fill the space with pokies instead of theatre seats. Labor was considering additional pokies for Queen’s Wharf instead of an arts theatre.
Queensland needs to finally see some action on the delivery of this vital arts project.
