Between his landmark apology to the LGBTI community, support for the #LetThemStay movement and the Metro Rail project, Australians outside of Victoria are pretty jealous that we get Daniel Andrews are premier.
Today, Andrews has given us another reason to be proud of our state. He has announced that a new Melbourne Conservatorium of Music will be built in Southbank by 2019. In partnership with the University of Melbourne, the Conservatorium will move from its current site in Parkville to join Southbank's precinct of cultural learning institutions like VCA and the Australian Ballet School.
In a Facebook post today, Andrews gave the reasoning behind the project:
The $105.5 million state-of-the-art conservatorium will also house a 400-seat auditorium that other organisations can use, and will create more than 2,000 jobs. "We are backing our creative talent all of the way – from creative opportunities for school kids to the best tertiary training and the best infrastructure to support our vital independent arts sector," says Martin Foley, Minister for Creative Industries.
While the federal government has decimated arts funding and failed to release an arts policy ahead of the election, the Andrews government has increased arts funding in this year's budget.
On ya, Daniel.