Sunday Tasmanian, SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON, p.17 – 25 Aug 2013

HE fate of Devonport’s Tiagarra Aboriginal Culture Centre could be decided within weeks.
The centre shut its doors in December due to financial and operational issues and opens only by appointment for tour groups.
It is the only centre of its kind in Tasmania and was the second Aboriginal museum in Australia.
Paul Docking, president of the Six Rivers Aboriginal Corporation, which leases the site, said he wanted the museum reopened.
However he said at least $96,000 a year was needed to pay staff to operate it.
Devonport City Council acting general manager Matthew Atkins said Tiagarra’s stakeholders would meet to work out the responsibilities of the local attraction.
“The meeting will hopefully be able to move Tiagarra forward. We’ve got a number of interested parties involved in the centre and the meeting will be about getting all the stakeholders together and working out responsibilities for this important part of Devonport,” he said.
“The meeting is really important. It’s the first time all the groups involved will discuss the centre’s future and hopefully we’ll be able to work out a solution,” he said.
There have been suggestions that Tiagarra could reopen under a volunteer model, but Mr Docking said it would be hard to operate without outside funding because of the museum’s low income.
“It could be reopened with volunteers, but it will be difficult for us to justify insurance when nobody is buying stuff from the museum,” he said.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson is a UTAS journalism student