Dear Parliamentarians,

I am writing to urge you to oppose the proposed staff cuts at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), and to call for full transparency about how many positions may be lost and which services will be affected.

TMAG is not only one of Tasmania’s most important cultural institutions; it is also a working museum, art gallery and herbarium responsible for caring for nearly one million items in the State Collection. The combination of TMAG’s collections and staff is an outstanding asset that provides cultural and economic value to Tasmanians (TMAG is one of Tasmania’s most visited attractions). Its value depends on both the exhibitions the public sees and the specialist work that happens behind the scenes.

Cuts to exhibition and education staff would mean fewer, poorer or more limited public programs, displays and visitor experiences. Cuts to back-of-house jobs would put at risk the careful conservation, cataloguing, research, loans, legal obligations and expert knowledge needed to protect Tasmania’s cultural, scientific and First Peoples heritage for future generations.

These roles are not optional extras. Once specialist staff and institutional knowledge are lost, they are difficult or impossible to replace. Reducing staff would damage TMAG’s ability to serve visitors now and to safeguard the collections entrusted to it for the future.

I ask you to publicly oppose these cuts, support TMAG staff, and ensure that any decisions about the museum’s future are made openly, with proper consideration of the consequences for Tasmania’s heritage, communities and visitors.

Yours sincerely,

Niko Darci-Maher

--

Niko Darci-Maher (he/him)
PhD Candidate, Koskella Lab
Departmental Union Steward, UAW 4811
UC Berkeley Department of Integrative Biology