More popular than the footy, but this museum is costing the council millions
By Joe Colbrook, and Bailey Forbes Updated September 26 2025 - 8:54am, first published 5:30am
The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery draws in more yearly visitors than Launceston's AFL games, but it comes at a cost the council struggles to bear.
The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Royal Park. Picture by Paul Scambler, Ian Goninon, picture by Rod Thompson and Sam Johnson , City of Launceston Council CEO, picture by Paul Scambler.
From 2023 to 2024, QVMAG welcomed more than 153,000 visitors. Hawthorn's matches drew more than half of that, at 58,000.
Still, in 2024, the council lost $7.3 million running the Royal Park Art Gallery and the Inveresk Museum. [NO ... Not lost but SPENT $7.3 Millionj delivering a service to the Launceston ratepayers and other visitors]
Entry for both is free, with the only revenue, which in 2024 equated to $793,000, coming from merchandising and limited ticketed events. [YES ... Underperforming merchandising]
Burning a million-dollar hole in their pocket, some are asking, what are the council doing with it? [GOOD QUESTION!?]
The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery draws in more yearly visitors than Launceston's AFL games, but it came at a cost the council struggled to bear. [NO ... Launceston's ratepayers invest in the QVMAG and the Council is not delivering the dividends it should and could be! ]
Bogged in the quagmire
In 2022, councillors endorsed a proposal to make QVMAG independent by establishing a company limited by guarantee. [YES ... And the Councillors sat on their hands and watched MANAGEMENT not do what they ...were not equipped so to do]
To achieve this, councillors adopted a strategic plan in 2024, which was intended to be implemented between 2023 and 2028 - several of them with deadlines throughout 2025. [NO ... Launceston Council Management stalled in favour of the status quo bereft of ideas and actually failing to deliver on the strategy COUNCIL endorsed ... Councillots failed to get management to implement their POLICY DECISION]
The council has set out to achieve several key objectives in 2025, including establishing a skills-based board, creating a future fund to finance the museum's operations, and registering the company as a charity. [NO ... This is the rhetoric and both the elected 12 and management lacked the wherewithal to deliver on the evidence. Also the FUTURE FUND was more rhetoric devised placate likely critics ... FUTURE FUNDS rely upon philanthropy and Australia does not provide sufficent incentives for philanthropist to provide their wherewithal!!]
To achieve this, councillors adopted a strategic plan in 2024, which was intended to be implemented between 2023 and 2028 - several of them with deadlines throughout 2025. [NO ... Launceston Council Management stalled in favour of the status quo bereft of ideas and actually failing to deliver on the strategy COUNCIL endorsed ... Councillots failed to get management to implement their POLICY DECISION]
The council has set out to achieve several key objectives in 2025, including establishing a skills-based board, creating a future fund to finance the museum's operations, and registering the company as a charity. [NO ... This is the rhetoric and both the elected 12 and management lacked the wherewithal to deliver on the evidence. Also the FUTURE FUND was more rhetoric devised placate likely critics ... FUTURE FUNDS rely upon philanthropy and Australia does not provide sufficent incentives for philanthropist to provide their wherewithal!!]
Council chief executive Sam Johnson admitted "only a couple of the very first actions" had taken place as the project had become bogged down in a logistical and legal quagmire. [NO ... Both the elected 12 and management lacked the wherewithal and possibly , and possibly the will as well, to deliver on the evidence]
"We're talking about essentially establishing a new entity. So, it's not - and was never ever going to be - something really quick and easy to achieve, and it does bring some complexities to it," Mr Johnson said.
[NO ... There are clear and expedient pathways to set up companies limited by guarantee and ARTS LAW & ARTS TASMANIA exist to facilitate such initiative ... There is a case to be put that similar to environmental issues as Michal Mobbs calls it out ... there may well be PREMEDITATED IGNORANCE in play here in order to maintain the status quo ,,, incomes etc!?]
This new entity had to be tightly governed to ensure the collection, which the council touts as the largest in regional Australia, remained publicly accessible after the transition. [CERTAINLY ... There is the expertise available albeit NOT within Council's agencies ... A CITIZENS ASSEMBLY would very likely identify the experts to deliver the POLICY but no that concept was rejected on numerous occasions]
"We want to make sure that they're preserved and protected, and not preserved and protected just for the city of Launceston, but actually for the people of Launceston and for Tasmania," Mr Johnson said. [CERTAINLY ... However this would be the task set for the interim governance mechanism]
In the 2024-25 financial year, the council spent $8.1 million on operating the museum, and when other expenses, such as depreciation, are taken into account, the overall expenses were $9.744 million. [AGAIN A MISLEADING STATEMENT ... The QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE and they are operated within a set budget to achieve Key Performance Indicators ... Fiscal management in the QVMAG's case was/is poor and mainly due to a lack of expertise on the elected 12's part and poor oversighting onn their part too]
The museum's overall income was $2.75 million, comprising $722,000 from trading and fees, and $2.03 million from grants and donations, resulting in an overall cost to the council of $6.991 million. [AGAIN A MISLEADING STATEMENT ... The QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE and they are operated within a set budget to achieve Key Performance Indicators ... HOWEVER this level of income generated is pathetic and there are ways and means open to musingplace to generate income ... BUT WHO IS ASKING FOR THISV ADVICE!!??]
For the 2025-26 financial year, the net cost incurred by the council is expected to be $7.309 million - $2.868 million of income offset by $10.177 million in expenses. [AGAIN A MISLEADING STATEMENT ... The QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE and they are operated within a set budgeb to achieve Key Performance Indicators ... HOWEVER this level of income is pathetic and there are ways and means open to musingplace to generate income that have not been explored]
Ian Goninon, a former Northern Midlands councillor of 20 years and current Launceston ratepayer, said the situation was untenable. [Mr Goninon is right in one sense ... However the QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE operating within a set budget. What is untenable is that INCOME GENERATION was not and currently is not on anyone's agenda apparently ]
He said the arts were a vital part of community life, but in an environment where Launceston councillors approved a 5.7 per cent rates increase, something had to give. [Again Mr Goninon is right in one dsese.. However he is silent on the "something" that ratepayers must give up. Do they need to give up their idenity and placedness?? . If so for what purpose and to what end!?.. A rhetorical questions]
"I thought you could run [a council] as a business, and I quickly learnt that there's a community aspect to it. With that community thing, not everything runs at a profit - you've got to run some things at a loss," Mr Goninon said. [Well Mr Goninon Councils are NOT businesses, they are SERVICE PROVIDERS ... fee for service providers... However they can and should generate income where and when possible]
"I understand with museums that there'd be very few museums in Australia that would run at a profit, but how much loss are the ratepayers prepared to take for it?" [Again Mr Goninon museums do not exist to make PROFITS ... they exist to:
This new entity had to be tightly governed to ensure the collection, which the council touts as the largest in regional Australia, remained publicly accessible after the transition. [CERTAINLY ... There is the expertise available albeit NOT within Council's agencies ... A CITIZENS ASSEMBLY would very likely identify the experts to deliver the POLICY but no that concept was rejected on numerous occasions]
"We want to make sure that they're preserved and protected, and not preserved and protected just for the city of Launceston, but actually for the people of Launceston and for Tasmania," Mr Johnson said. [CERTAINLY ... However this would be the task set for the interim governance mechanism]
The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Royal Park. Picture by Paul Scambler
'You've got to run some things at a loss' While this process is ongoing, the museum's operating costs continue to mount. [MISLEADING STATEMENT ... The QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE and they are operated within a set budget to achieve Key Performance Indicators ... Local Govt is NOT a PROFIT making entity ... Rather when it funds something like a museum it is funding a COMMUNITY CULTURAL ENTERPRISE and yes an operation that generates INCOME for reinvestment in the enterprise.]In the 2024-25 financial year, the council spent $8.1 million on operating the museum, and when other expenses, such as depreciation, are taken into account, the overall expenses were $9.744 million. [AGAIN A MISLEADING STATEMENT ... The QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE and they are operated within a set budget to achieve Key Performance Indicators ... Fiscal management in the QVMAG's case was/is poor and mainly due to a lack of expertise on the elected 12's part and poor oversighting onn their part too]
The museum's overall income was $2.75 million, comprising $722,000 from trading and fees, and $2.03 million from grants and donations, resulting in an overall cost to the council of $6.991 million. [AGAIN A MISLEADING STATEMENT ... The QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE and they are operated within a set budget to achieve Key Performance Indicators ... HOWEVER this level of income generated is pathetic and there are ways and means open to musingplace to generate income ... BUT WHO IS ASKING FOR THISV ADVICE!!??]
For the 2025-26 financial year, the net cost incurred by the council is expected to be $7.309 million - $2.868 million of income offset by $10.177 million in expenses. [AGAIN A MISLEADING STATEMENT ... The QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE and they are operated within a set budgeb to achieve Key Performance Indicators ... HOWEVER this level of income is pathetic and there are ways and means open to musingplace to generate income that have not been explored]
Ian Goninon, a former Northern Midlands councillor of 20 years and current Launceston ratepayer, said the situation was untenable. [Mr Goninon is right in one sense ... However the QVMAG is a Council COST CENTRE operating within a set budget. What is untenable is that INCOME GENERATION was not and currently is not on anyone's agenda apparently ]
He said the arts were a vital part of community life, but in an environment where Launceston councillors approved a 5.7 per cent rates increase, something had to give. [Again Mr Goninon is right in one dsese.. However he is silent on the "something" that ratepayers must give up. Do they need to give up their idenity and placedness?? . If so for what purpose and to what end!?.. A rhetorical questions]
"I thought you could run [a council] as a business, and I quickly learnt that there's a community aspect to it. With that community thing, not everything runs at a profit - you've got to run some things at a loss," Mr Goninon said. [Well Mr Goninon Councils are NOT businesses, they are SERVICE PROVIDERS ... fee for service providers... However they can and should generate income where and when possible]
"I understand with museums that there'd be very few museums in Australia that would run at a profit, but how much loss are the ratepayers prepared to take for it?" [Again Mr Goninon museums do not exist to make PROFITS ... they exist to:
- Do research ;and
- Generate new knowledge and understandings; and
- That is how they deliver their DIVIDENDS - social & cultural]
His preferred course of action was charging an entry fee for high-profile exhibitions, like the recent showcase of Michael McWilliams' work. [YES Mr Goninon museums can and do charge entry fees... However, to charge Launceston ratepayers an entry fee might well be seen as DOUBLE DIPPING ... MONA makes entry to TASMANIAN visitors free and charges the rest and people come from afar for the now internationally renowned MONAexperience.]
This drew in 32,300 visitors - roughly three-quarters of them travelling from elsewhere in Tasmania, interstate or overseas. [YES Mr Goninon as above!]
As a free exhibition, it did not generate any revenue to offset the $143,468 cost of hosting it. Although sales of books and merchandise generated a net profit, the overall result was a $62,791 loss. [NO ... This is not a trading LOSS it is evidence of a LOST OPPORTUNITY that might have generated more income.]
"I would have been quite happy to pay $20 or $30 to go to the exhibition, which I went to twice, and then I went to the book signing and all that sort of stuff as well," Mr Goninon said. [AS MAYBE ... This for Mr Goninion would be double dipping to pay for entry BUT buying books and other items that is where extra income can be generated]
"With the people they got through, if they've paid $30 on 30,000 people, it's $1 million." [AS MAYBE ... However Mr Goninion if Launceston ratepayers did not pay the income might well be significant BUT we'll never know now!]
Michael McWilliams' recent exhibition drew in more than 30,000 visitors to the museum. File picture by Phillip Biggs
Dragging their feet?
The council chief executive said discussions around funding the museum were an ongoing matter. [AS MAYBE ... This has always been the case BUT its not a task for Local Govt Management ... It is to do with GOVERNANCE and at Town Hall that has been blurred and to an extent that is an impediment to good transparent and accountable operational standards ... The electerb12 have been told that SETION 65 of the Act is to guarantee 'EXPERT ADVICE' but it does not and cannot ... Civic Management is not equipped with the expertise in CULTURAL matterds and here we have an examplar over time that demonstrates the fact of the matter]
Mr Johnson said the council received an annual endowment from the state government; however, that paled in comparison to the services QVMAG provided. [ACTUALLY ... This ENDOWMENT is provided to enable the QVMAG to undertake research it might otherwise not be able do ... It was not proved to supplement RECURRENT EXPENDITURE]
"We do receive an endowment figure from the state government each year. That hasn't been increased adequately to reflect the increased cost of the service delivery at QVMAG," he said. [ACTUALLY ... This ENDOWMENT increases with the CPI and IF there is a case for more funding it will be best put by a STAND ALONE governing body with its own management team ... Moreover an expert BOARD OF GOVERNANCE / TRUSTEES would be able to seek supplementary PROJECT FUNDING that a Local Govt could not access ]
The chief executive drew a comparison to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart, which received nearly six times the amount of money from the state government. [ACTUALLY ... This statement is made regularly by Launceston's GM / CEOs but it is a furphy BECAUSE the TMAG is a STATE institution located in the CAPITAL and it is NOT a Hobart institution nor anything to do with Local Governance ... This statement is an example of the misunderswtandings in play at Town Hall]
"We have to rely on the ratepayers of the City of Launceston to support the wonderful institutions and wonderful work that our team there deliver for, not just Launceston, but for Tasmania as a whole," Mr Johnson said. [ACTUALLY ... This statement is misleading in a sense as
Mr Johnson said the council received an annual endowment from the state government; however, that paled in comparison to the services QVMAG provided. [ACTUALLY ... This ENDOWMENT is provided to enable the QVMAG to undertake research it might otherwise not be able do ... It was not proved to supplement RECURRENT EXPENDITURE]
"We do receive an endowment figure from the state government each year. That hasn't been increased adequately to reflect the increased cost of the service delivery at QVMAG," he said. [ACTUALLY ... This ENDOWMENT increases with the CPI and IF there is a case for more funding it will be best put by a STAND ALONE governing body with its own management team ... Moreover an expert BOARD OF GOVERNANCE / TRUSTEES would be able to seek supplementary PROJECT FUNDING that a Local Govt could not access ]
The chief executive drew a comparison to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart, which received nearly six times the amount of money from the state government. [ACTUALLY ... This statement is made regularly by Launceston's GM / CEOs but it is a furphy BECAUSE the TMAG is a STATE institution located in the CAPITAL and it is NOT a Hobart institution nor anything to do with Local Governance ... This statement is an example of the misunderswtandings in play at Town Hall]
"We have to rely on the ratepayers of the City of Launceston to support the wonderful institutions and wonderful work that our team there deliver for, not just Launceston, but for Tasmania as a whole," Mr Johnson said. [ACTUALLY ... This statement is misleading in a sense as
the QVMAG is a REGIONAL INSTITUTION that had a record of substantial research. ... This reputation is recoverable IF the QVMAG were to partner with other research groups/institutions but that requires a skills based BOARD OF GOVERNORS/TRUSTEES]
"We've got a legislative instrument [Link]that we can actually go back to the government and say, 'we're actually on the hook here. Let's have a conversation about making some parity here.' [ACTUALLY ... This statement is also somewhat misleading in that Mr Johnson does not identify the "legislative instrument", or the context within which it came to into being and the percived need for it, and as always the devil is in the detail ... BTW it weighs almost 2 Kilos and there is a place in our world where it would be called out for being a SNOW JOB!!]
"If this were in Hobart, the state's paying for all of it." [ACTUALLY ... NO for the reason stated above ... GEOGRAPHY is NOT in any way the issue here and to say that is ... well it fails the PUB TEST]
"We've got a legislative instrument [Link]that we can actually go back to the government and say, 'we're actually on the hook here. Let's have a conversation about making some parity here.' [ACTUALLY ... This statement is also somewhat misleading in that Mr Johnson does not identify the "legislative instrument", or the context within which it came to into being and the percived need for it, and as always the devil is in the detail ... BTW it weighs almost 2 Kilos and there is a place in our world where it would be called out for being a SNOW JOB!!]
"If this were in Hobart, the state's paying for all of it." [ACTUALLY ... NO for the reason stated above ... GEOGRAPHY is NOT in any way the issue here and to say that is ... well it fails the PUB TEST]
Arts Minister Madeleine Ogilvie said the funding provided to the council was valued at $1.8 million over the 2024-25 financial year, and said it was "tied to a perpetual deed" [ABSOLUTELY CORRECT ... This statement is unambiguous and factual]
"Funding for QVMAG is tied to a perpetual deed with the state government signed in 1999, administered by Arts Tasmania," she said. [ABSOLUTELY CORRECT ... This statement is unambiguous and factual]
"The Tasmanian Government notes and congratulates QVMAG for its longstanding commitment to quality exhibitions and its extensive contribution to ensuring the cultural heritage of Tasmania is protected." [ABSOLUTELY CORRECT & GENEROUS ... AND well said under the circumstances prevailing ... Moreover, the Minister is acting on expert advice!]
Although Mr Goninon criticised the council for moving at a "snail's pace" with the QVMAG transition, the council chief executive said it was more important to get things done right rather than quickly. [YES but there has been both the time and the opportunity to do what needs to be done... AND 'COUNCIL' has seriously failed it constituency ... SO Council has got it quite wrong and nobody will be congratulated for saying so]
"Have we achieved everything we set out to achieve by the timeframes that we wanted to achieve them by? No, unfortunately, but I think doing it right is the most important thing here," Mr Johnson said. [YES, YES but there actually has been both the time and opportunity to do it BUT to be fair Mr Johnson is preceded by two GM/CEOs who must wear much of the failure on exhibition now and that is not to mention the CONGAline of Aldermen/Councillors who failed their constituency over time ... Also there is a goodly population of dilettantes at Town Hall and there are no prizes for calling that out... The ball is now in this Council's court lets see how they play it and with whom]
"Funding for QVMAG is tied to a perpetual deed with the state government signed in 1999, administered by Arts Tasmania," she said. [ABSOLUTELY CORRECT ... This statement is unambiguous and factual]
"The Tasmanian Government notes and congratulates QVMAG for its longstanding commitment to quality exhibitions and its extensive contribution to ensuring the cultural heritage of Tasmania is protected." [ABSOLUTELY CORRECT & GENEROUS ... AND well said under the circumstances prevailing ... Moreover, the Minister is acting on expert advice!]
Although Mr Goninon criticised the council for moving at a "snail's pace" with the QVMAG transition, the council chief executive said it was more important to get things done right rather than quickly. [YES but there has been both the time and the opportunity to do what needs to be done... AND 'COUNCIL' has seriously failed it constituency ... SO Council has got it quite wrong and nobody will be congratulated for saying so]
"Have we achieved everything we set out to achieve by the timeframes that we wanted to achieve them by? No, unfortunately, but I think doing it right is the most important thing here," Mr Johnson said. [YES, YES but there actually has been both the time and opportunity to do it BUT to be fair Mr Johnson is preceded by two GM/CEOs who must wear much of the failure on exhibition now and that is not to mention the CONGAline of Aldermen/Councillors who failed their constituency over time ... Also there is a goodly population of dilettantes at Town Hall and there are no prizes for calling that out... The ball is now in this Council's court lets see how they play it and with whom]
......................................
ENDNOTE
The QVMAG has a large Community of Ownership & Interest
and is evident that CoL Management has over a long time
has been antithetic to that being the case. This is evidenced
by Council's assertion that the Council " owns and operates
the QVMAG". In 'law' it might, given that the Westminster System
demands that all property is "owned' by someone, the crown, etc.
Nonetheless in 'lore' musingplaces are owned by a constituency,
a network of networks, communities, etc. as they are CULTURAL property
and much of what they hold in collections has INTELLECTUALproperty
rights attached to objects etc.
Moreover, in the management management of musingplaces collections
there are protocol that are designed to protect CP & IP andespecially so
when it comes to accession & deaccession.
Back References
• ... https://museumstasmania2022.blogspot.com/2022/07/21st-century-musing-in-lutruwitatasmania.html
No comments:
Post a Comment