So - ever since the Campbell Newman Liberal National Party (LNP) got into power at the Queensland state elections by a landslide in March - and with a record number of seats - I have been waiting. Waiting for all the fodder to pour in that would so incense me that I would have to let off steam here in my little soap-box blog. And I have not been disappointed.
But I have been short on time, so I have been steaming off to my poor, long-suffering but patient partner instead. But there's only so much he can take.
The first thing that really annoyed me was - before the ink was even dry on my ballot paper - Campbell Newman axed the Premier's literary awards. What? Was that a mistake? Did I hear right?
Surely this was not some feeble attempt to keep his promise to cut government spending? Could cutting this one tiny Premier's literary award bring the budget back to surplus? Improve the standard of living for Queenslanders? Return the state's AAA credit rating? Does it even take up 0.04% of the 2011-2012 Cabinet Budget of more than $700 million? What have you got against writers, writing, the arts, Campbell?
I boiled and burned and promised to come in here to my soapbox and rant about it. But time slipped away. And then the May edition of the Queensland Writers Centre's monthly WQ magazine arrived in my inbox, promptly on the 1st. And they had their own little rant.
I could not have said it better or more succinctly than was voiced in the magazine. So I have blatantly ripped it off and transposed below. With credit! I could not have said it better.
The upside to this story is that members of the Queensland literary community are working to ensure that the awards continue, without the sponsorship of the dark and gloomy and artless Premier's office.
Many in the writing community will be watching your spending very closely, Mr Newman. We know about those nice, new leather chairs...
Stay tuned... there'll be more Newman ranting to come, I'm sure. As soon as I have time...
"Just before this issue of WQ went to press, the news broke that newly elected Queensland Premier Campbell Newman had axed the state’s literary awards, leaving Queensland the only state without such recognition of the writing community.
It’s a strange priority action from a government yet to swear in its Cabinet, with its arts minister yet to occupy her office.
Newman’s surprise fait accompli denies emerging and established writers the recognition and opportunity the awards offer, while the meagre budget savings the move will deliver are cringeworthy in comparison to the national embarrassment the action has sparked and the slap in the face to the arts industry it represents.
We can only hope that the State Government’s approach to fostering a thriving creative community shows greater foresight and consultation in the future."
from May WQ Magazine
more about the awards... http://queenslandliteraryawards.com/
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