ADJOURNMENT

Mrs ELLIOT (Richmond) (19:36): I rise tonight to talk about one of Australia's most outstanding art galleries, which is in my electorate of Richmond on the New South Wales far north coast. It's the Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre, both world-class showcases of local, national and international exhibits. It's situated just outside the beautiful town of Murwillumbah.

I am unashamedly a huge fan of the gallery, and I encourage all members of the House to visit. If you do visit the Margaret Olley Art Centre from 18 September, you'll see Margaret Olley's own painting White Still Life. As one of her masterpieces, it really adds to the collection of her work at the centre, and I'm delighted it'll be shared with our community for the next two years.

White Still Life has been sent to our gallery as part of the Albanese Labor government's Sharing the National Collection program. White Still Life will join four other works currently on loan to the gallery, of which three are by Margaret Olley herself. The Sharing the National Collection program provides regional and remote communities with unprecedented access to world-class artworks, many of which have rarely been displayed outside of Canberra.

At any one point, 98 per cent of our national collection is held in storage, and this program gets works like White Still Life out to communities like mine, where they can really contribute to our thriving local arts and culture. These works follow the previous allocation we had from the collection, the $174 million masterpiece Haystacks, Midday by French impressionist Claude Monet, which attracted so much widespread public and media attention to the gallery.

Monet's Haystacks, Midday was the first and most valuable artwork to be loaned out through the program, and during the time it was there—two years—more than 200,000 people visited to see that firsthand at our gallery. Our stunning art gallery was officially opened in 2004 after much fundraising and a generous donation of land by Doug and Margot Anthony. Stage 2 of the gallery was opened in 2006 by Margaret Olley herself.

It was a great event. The extension provided additional exhibition space to showcase the gallery's collection of Australian portraits, landscapes, artist prints and many other artworks from the collection. Margaret Olley is indeed a national Treasure who was renowned for her paintings, her generosity of spirit and her fondness for the Northern Rivers.

Following the passing of Margaret Olley in July 2011, to honour the express wish of the artist, the Margaret Olley Art Trust gifted $1 million to establish the Margaret Olley Art Centre. As a local MP, I was very proud to have delivered $1 million in federal funding from the former Labor government to make this centre a reality. The centre is now a permanent exhibition and a remarkable recreation of the home and studio of one of Australia's most loved and respected artists.

The centre officially opened in 2014, and it's actually a recreation of rooms from her home studio on Duxford Street, Paddington, including TheHat Factory and TheYellow Room. It's remarkable. As you walk around and look into the centre, you can see everything that was in her house.

The opening was also attended by the then governor-general, Quentin Bryce, who was indeed a very, very good friend of Margaret Olley's. She commented at the opening that every part of the house was a true reproduction of Margaret's house. More than 20,000 items were carefully packed and relocated from her Paddington home to the centre.

The amount of work and dedication that went into that is remarkable. The permanent recreation of the centre is deliberately meticulously cluttered and precisely mirrors the very chaotic layout of her original Paddington home. It's described by critics as a magic cave-like space and a monument of cluttered splendour.

I would very much like to acknowledge everyone that was involved in the establishment of the Margaret Olley centre. It's a huge success and complements our art gallery so well. It is a very unique experience.

As I said, you're able to walk in and look through the windows into what was essentially her house and her studio, with all of the wonderful cluttered splendour. I would like to acknowledge everyone involved with the gallery, including the director, Ingrid Hedgcock; all the gallery staff; their incredible hardworking volunteers—they have so many volunteers that give up their time at the gallery; the board; and the friends and foundation members of the gallery—again, all of whom contribute so much to its success.

The Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre truly put my community on the world stage. I'm immensely proud of that, as we all are in our region. It's important too because it continues to foster the vibrant arts community of northern New South Wales, which is one of Australia's largest and most diverse—attracting visitors from all around the world.

Speaker, I would encourage you, and indeed all other members of the House, to please visit anytime so you, like everyone else, can enjoy the wonderful splendours of our gallery. It overlooks Mount Warning and the beautiful area surrounding Murwillumbah. It's a wonderful experience, and I would encourage you all to come and visit many times.