VICTORIAN GREENS COMMIT $10M FOR SOUTH MELBOURNE TOWN HALL REDEVELOPMENT - OTHERS STALL ON PLEDGE

Lachlan McKie (viola, VIC), Ami Humphreys (flute, NSW), Sonya Semmens (Greens candidate, Albert Park), Peter Elliott (PEA Architecture and Urban Design) and Ciara Wrede (horn, VIC)

Victorian Greens candidate for Albert Park, Sonya Semmens, visited the South Melbourne Town Hall this week to meet with Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) students and architect Peter Elliott, pledging Greens support to deliver ANAM’s vision for the iconic site.

Following a catastrophic roof collapse in 2018, ANAM has raised nearly $60 million toward its $70 million goal. Together with a $55 million investment from the building owner, the City of Port Phillip, the project will restore the historic building into a state-of-the-art cultural asset. However, despite being approached in late 2019 to contribute the remaining $10 million, just 8% of the total budget, the Victorian Government has yet to confirm its support.

“I am proud to announce the Greens are committed to helping organisations such as the Australian National Academy of Music”, said Sonya Semmens, Greens candidate for Albert Park. “This $10 million investment will ensure that ANAM has a permanent home to train the next generation of Australia’s musicians, entertain and enrich our communities, and encourage visitation to local businesses. Music is the heartbeat of so much that we do in Albert Park, and I’m passionate about supporting the next generation of Australian musicians”. 

“This pledge by Sonya Semmens and the Greens is welcome news”, said Nick Bailey, SMTH Redevelopment Project Director. “We are delighted that they have committed to delivering this major piece of Victorian cultural, community and education infrastructure. Without their support - and that of the other political parties at this crucial moment - Peter Elliott Architecture’s vision for the South Melbourne Town Hall will be drastically compromised. 

“At a time when local businesses and traders are struggling with increasing cost-of-living pressures, the transformation of this beautiful but broken building into a vital performing arts and community hub – and the foot-traffic that will follow - will deliver a much-needed boost to the local hospitality and retail sectors”.

The commitment by the Greens follows several Open Letters calling on the Victorian Government to act and to give the building a new life. These include letters from:

• 170 local South Melbourne businesses and traders, arguing that the project will contribute to a renaissance in the vitality and prosperity of the precinct
• 6,000 Albert Park residents
• 70 local arts and culture organisations, calling for a solution to the increasing demand from surrounding schools, community organisations, and local artists across a variety of creative practices for flexible venue spaces at affordable prices
• Over 700 of the country’s leading performing artists, calling for a safe and secure home for ANAM. 

Bailey added, “This is a $125m project to which City of Port Phillip is committing $55m, the Commonwealth $25m and ANAM is investing $35m. This great legacy project is close to 92% fully funded, and it is now time for the other parties to step up and match the commitment of the Greens to ensuring the prosperity and vitality of South Melbourne, and the future cultural life of Australia”.

“Music is so important”, Sonya Semmens said. “It brings us together for good times, comforts us in tough times, and provides the soundtrack to our lives. The creative industries are also the lifeblood of so many local economies”.