Funding hopes dashed for Tarrkarri but new arts media hub wins millions
The Treasurer is “not interested” in funding a long-awaited cultural hub on North Terrace, as sport takes centre stage in the State Budget’s arts, recreation and tourism spend.
Despite the Tarrkarri First Nations arts and culture centre again missing from today’s state budget papers, Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said he was “not giving up hope” on federal funding or private donors to make the project a reality.
“This is done in the United States and Great Britain to great success,” he said.
“There are lots of companies that engage with Indigenous groups in South Australia and Australia who want to invest in these philanthropic types of causes.
“The Commonwealth Government need to come back to the table and give us more, but I’m not interested in putting more state money in.”
A pot of money for “development of an innovation and cultural precinct in the city centre” – including the Tarrkarri project – was in the federal government’s budget last month.
You might like
But it was understood the quarantined cash was not enough to make the long-awaited centre a reality after Premier Peter Malinauskas halted work on the new gallery for an “urgent” review into its $200m cost in October 2022.
Another state arts media hub on Franklin Street landed $49.3 million, as promised by the government ahead of the election.
The project would draw the State Opera, State Theatre, Country Arts SA and the ABC under one roof – the dollars projected to be spent by 2029.
The government has partnered with the ABC to deliver the arts hub, with taxpayer dollars earmarked for a fit-out and upfront leasing costs for the three state art entities’ new digs.
Stay informed, daily
An announcement was made about the project earlier this year with a 2029 completion but the ABC recently said it expected to move in by 2031.
While the North Terrace arts and cultural centre failed to win funds, today’s budget overview showed the state government was all in on the 2027 MotoGP in Adelaide, with a full-page picture of the race next to spend titled “arts, recreation and tourism”.
The state government has allocated $3.3 million to plan MotoGP – due to be held in Adelaide in 2027 – but the cost of bringing the tournament to the East End of the city remained commercial in confidence.
Novelty registration plates to commemorate the inaugural racing event were part of the package, with a $185,000 spend from the government for 500 plates, a project previously announced by the Premier during the state election campaign.
“I think we all know the implications of the MotoGP, in terms of the visitor economy,” Koutsantonis said today.
According to the state government, the 2025 MotoGP event at Philip Island drew a crowd of more than 90,000 people across three days.
The only other arts funds announced under the arts, recreation and tourism banner, delivered on the Premier’s election commitment to fund Adelaide Fringe at an extra $1.5 million over four years, taking total government funding for the Adelaide Fringe to $20 million over that time period.
Also under recreation and tourism were commitments of $100 million over three years for a new state gymnastics centre, $5 million to upgrade Karen Rolton Oval and $1.2 million to improve the Heysen Trail at Cudlee Creek.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
