Dear Mr Jaensch

I am writing to you as a former senior curator of cultural heritage and a current committee member of the Friends of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery to voice my deep concern about the mooted cuts to TMAG and its staff. TMAG is a well-loved and trusted Tasmanian institution which has operated for around 180 years.

TMAG, the second oldest museum in Australia, has a statutory requirement to care for and grow the State art, cultural heritage and art collection. It already does this under enormous financial and staffing constraint, working off a budget much smaller than its interstate counterparts. The museum is one of the most visited places in Tasmania, with similar numbers to our most visited national park, Freycinet, and only a few less than the highly promoted MONA and Port Arthur Historic Sites. Thus it not only has cultural, scientific and artistic significance but also is an important driver in the Tasmanian economy.

TMAG runs a vibrant and successful public program, with exhibitions, talks, events and a very popular schools program. Every year thousands of school children from southern Tasmania and elsewhere enhance their education by visiting the museum and taking part in specialist programs run by highly skilled staff. These public programs again fulfil statutory requirements under the 2017 Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Act.

TMAG overachieves in comparison to its mainland counterparts - with its small staff and budget it regularly wins national awards for its exhibitions. Budget constraints have already meant that exhibition turnover has been reduced markedly. The museum’s research collections which are managed by a dedicated staff of curators and collection managers are central to its operations. Many scientific collections require regular maintenance to ensure their longevity - these include botanical and faunal specimens dating to the early nineteenth century and which are regularly used by local, national and international scholars and institutions to research key questions facing us all today. TMAG has a hard-won reputation as an outstanding museum and research facility.

TMAG has recently lost critical staff members, including one of its two art curators and its paper conservator along with other staff, with no sign of their being replaced. 

My fear is that the mooted cuts will further erode the already inadequate staff needed to fulfil its statutory obligations, thus placing its collections, programs and research reputation at serious risk. This is turn is a serious risk to Tasmania’s reputation as a State in which the arts, culture and science are taken seriously and add significant value to the Tasmanian economy and brand as a clever forward thinking State attractive to investors and those looking for a place to relocate to.

I urge to you ensure that TMAG is spared staff and budgetary cuts and indeed receives an increased budgetary allocation to enable it to fulfil its charter.

I thank you for taking the time to consider this important issue and look forward to many more years of a thriving museum and art gallery.

Ian Terry
Hobart