Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

OPPORTUNl1Y FOR AUSTRALIANS TO SEE THE GREAT PANORAMA OF AUSTRALIAN LIFE REPRESENTED IN ART. THIS PARADE OF INDIVIDUAL PAINTINGS AND WORKS IN OTHER MEDIA OCCUPIED SEVEN OF THE GALLERY'S DISPLAY SPACES AND WAS VIEWED BY 53 038 VISITORS. THE EXHIBITION WAS ORGANISED BY THE ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. With four speakers down and two to go, including the principal one, you will certainly not want me to say very much; and I do not intend to. I would, however, like to repeat the Director's welcome and say how pleased we at the Gallery are that so many have been able to come this evening to the opening of our third major exhibition in this Bicentennial year-'The Great Australian Art Exhibition 1788-1988'. Iwill not attempt to identify or refer individually to all the distinguished guests here tonight, but I am specially pleased, personally, to see among the assembled multitude before me three members of the Victorian art world. Sir William Dargie, the doyen of Australian portrait painters, eight times winner of the Archibald Prize, is here; and so are Ken and Bails Myer, both colleagues of mine in the past. Bails was eleven years a fellow Trustee of the National Gallery in Melbourne and Ken was Chairman of the Building Committee of the Cultural Centre there and was thus responsible for producing a complex of splendid structures-almost as splendid, indeed, as our own here in Brisbane. A warm welcome to those three and to all other interstate visitors and a very warm welcome-a welcome back in fact-to my namesake, the Minister for Finance, the Hon. Brian Austin, who has kindly agreed to open the exhibition. I hope I shan't be misunderstood or accused of engaging in what, in the political world, is, I understand, described as having 'two bob each way' when I say that, while we at the Gallery were all delighted that the Premier had taken over the Arts ministry, we were equally sorry that Mr Austin had relinquished it. 1 In the comparatively short time he held that portfolio, he proved to be a very good friend to the Gallery and to the arts generally. He encouraged us in our endeavours to make the Gallery more entrepreneurial and more accessible, he supported us in our acquisitions and he was always ready to listen to our problems, and it was he who was responsible for the idea of setting aside a special day for the arts. As Minister for· Finance his interest and support continues, and we are extremely pleased that he is here tonight to address us and to open the exhibition. Before asking him to do so, Iwould like to say a few words-a very few-about the exhibition itself. You must be tired by now of hearing me say that every opening in this Galley amounts to a unique occasion. But once again that is the case. The great Australian art exhibition comprises the largest and the most discriminatingly selected assemblage of Australian paintings and other works of art that has ever been put together or is likely to be in the foreseeable future. It remains for me to thank the International Cultural Corporation of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Bicentennial Authority and Boral for making it possible to enjoy the aesthetic experience that awaits us in the adjoining galleries. 2 I now have much pleasure in asking the Minister to address us and open the exhibition. 44