The Howard Government’s cultural war and its sabotage of the National Museum, has today taken a new twist.
A Freedom of Information request by the Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that deep divisions exist within the Museum’s council and that supporters of the current Director, Dawn Casey, are being ignored by the Howard Government.
It is deeply disconcerting that highly respected council members such as Cathy Santamaria, who are overwhelmingly supportive of Ms Casey, have had their advice deliberately ignored.
The National Museum has benefited greatly from the expertise and vision of Ms Casey during her time as Director and it is disgraceful that the Coalition is using political board appointees as foot soldiers in their cultural war.
Political appointees to our Cultural Institution boards such as Dr Philip Jones – a possible replacement for Ms Casey – can only serve to further diminish the independence of our institutions generally and the National Museum specifically.
Dr Jones’ role in arguing that secret women’s business was a fabrication in the Hindmarsh Island dispute ensures his appointment to the Museum would be controversial and interpreted as consistent with the Coalition’s censorial approach to indigenous culture and history in this country.
Ms Casey’s professional independence has obviously not suited the Howard Government’s opinion of how Australian history should be portrayed. As a result of the Prime Minister’s Museum Review, we know that the Coalition wants to ‘Whitewash’ or exclude stories of Indigenous and migrant history and culture from existing exhibitions.
Censorship of our national institutions and, indeed, the boards which are meant to govern them cannot continue. It is imperative that their independence be maintained.
Media contact: Adina Cirson ‑ (02) 6277 3334 or 0418 488 295
