Savetheregent.com's Brett Debritz was on the Jamie Dunn and Ian Calder show on Radio 4BC this morning reacting to Sustainability Minister Kate Jones's dismissal of the 6000-plus-signature Save the Regent epetition. The audio is here. If you want to take a stand against the minister, email her and contact your local Member of Parliament, reminding them that you vote and you want to Save the Regent even if Kate Jones, Anna Bligh, Paul Lucas and Stirling Hinchliffe do not. There's a full list of contact details for Queensland MPs here.

Some further comments on Anna Bligh's responses regarding the Regent at People's Question Time:
1) Under the Heritage Act no listed areas can technically be demolished or altered radically. Ms Bligh's claim of intervening to save the facade and staircase areas is bunkum. It was already heritage listed and "protected".
2) The Regent has recently been commercially unviable, but arguably that was because its operators were not motivated as they have other premises nearby at the Myer Centre. We know there are other cinema operators who would give their eye teeth to take the Regent as is, and make it a goer.
3) Why no mention of the Brisbane International Film Festival? It operated successfully at the Regent for 17 years and now lacks a home.
4) If the Regent has failed as a commercial cinema and people are crying out for more theatre space here, why not take the perfect opportunity to negotiate with the building's owners for a multipurpose theatre to go in there instead of a carpark and and tower lobby?
5) It might be privately owned but the Regent is a building of state significance and iconic status. The wishes of the community to save and continue the Regent as a proper cinema should be taken into account by the owners and the government.
6) Ms Bligh should look at the thriving live theatre scene in Melbourne, which is due to the number and variety of commercially viable venues. We need more venues so more big shows can come here to Brisbane, not just a larger Lyric Theatre stage.

Premier Anna Bligh faced some tricky questions about the Regent at People's Question Time on August 18. The full audio and transcripts are here, but here's what was said about the Regent:

MODERATOR: ... And certainly one of the most popular questions that was asked online was about the Regent Theatre in Brisbane, and there’s a question for the Premier: Kim, Bonnie, David, Lara, Michael, Belinda, Prue, Thomas, Daniel, and Brett are all interested in this issue but Damon of Red Hill says “Given that Premier Anna Bligh stated that the Regent Building is one of the last pieces of the cultural history of early life in our city, why was a February 2008 ministerial directive which protected the entire Regent Building rescinded in February 2009 in favour of a development which does not meet best practice standards for the preservation of a historic site.

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... the more they stay the same. Here are some newspaper clippings from the 1978 Save the Regent campaign, inlcuding ads from the Courier-Mail and a feature article from the Sunshine Coast Advertiser. (Please note that the phone no. and postal address are not relevant for the current STR campaign).

Queensland MP Aidan Mclindon talks about the Regent:

A supporter of this campaign has compiled a list of superannuation companies who will be investing in the Regent development via owner ISPT. The list is as follows and the suggestion is that, if your super provider is one of them, send them a letter or email expressing your opposition:

(savetheregent.com has not independently verified this list; we welcome corrections and/or additions.)

In the Courier-Mail today (July 16, 2010), Matt Condon writes of his frustration with the stock reply he received from the Premier's office when he wrote, as a private citizen, to ask Anna Bligh to intervene on behalf of the Regent. Condon writes:

I also know enough about life to understand that any government that treats its people and their concerns as unworthy of mindful consideration, that deems it satisfactory to subject them to cut and paste mimeographhs on matters that go to their hearts, and that frankly disrespects them as fools who know no better, has lost its grasp of democracy, its purpose and its obligation to the people it pretends to represent.

Well said, sir!
I suggest everybody who received the same form letter as Matt write again to the Premier with specific questions and asking for real answers. Don't let the Premier and her team treat us with contempt.

The battle goes on. For the moment, make sure you have signed the petition to Queensland Parliament. And please spread the word to others about it. The link is here.

Some video from the Reclaim the Regent group's recent rally:

What a line-up - a reminder that the big names of the arts and music industry are opposed to the current plans for the redevelopment of the Regent. Be there if you can!
And don't forget the Rally Behind the Regent on Saturday. Details below.

The Reclaim the Regent group will hold a rally in Reddacliffe Place, at the top of the Queen St Mall, on Saturday, June 26, at 10.30am. Your attendance at this peaceful event will help let the Government and the owners of the building know that the current development plan, which will see the demolition of the Showcase Cinema, Elizabeth Street facade and original bar area, is unacceptable cultural vandalism.

Please sign the e-petition to State Parliament here.

More than 11,000 people have joined the Facebook group, All those against Regent Cinema in Brisbane being knocked down!, (click here to visit), while membership of the group offciially affiliated to this site is around 5000. Several other Facebook groups also have many thousands of members between them. Even given multiple membership, this represents a formidable number of people opposed to the current development proposal for the building. And that's just among Facebook members -- the number is much, much larger in the wider community. Please continue to engage with these groups, and let Anna Bligh, Sitlring Hinchliffe and ISPT know that we mean business!

With the Regent closing its doors, it's time to redouble our efforts to obtain a change of heart from ISPT, which owns the building and has commissioned the redevelopment, and from the State Government, which has the power to persuade the developers to take another course. Please continue to contact the Premier and ISPT -- flood their in-boxes -- with protests and, especially, positive comments about how the Regent could be restored for the benefit of all Queenslanders and what a enourmous act of corporate citizenship it would be to make that happen. It may seem like the darkest hour, but politicians sometimes do listen to the people who elect them. Click here for contact details.

If you saw the segment on the Today show on Channel 9 and want to help save the Showcase cinema and other unlisted elements of the Regent theatre, here's what you can do: Write to the Premier, Infrastructure Minister, Lord Mayor, developers and owners of the building, saying there is a better way, where a public-private partnership can truly save this cultural icon for future generations. Addresses can be found here. Time is running out, so please act now!
PS: If you want to see more video of the Regent, this link will take you to the Bruce Paige Remembers story from the Brisbane Channel 9 news.
Update: Thanks to those who pointed out the link was wrong. It's now fixed.

The picture tells the story: these people and thousands of others are opposed to the current development proposal for the Regent.

Des Partridge, the longtime cinema critic for The Courier-Mail, has thrown his weight behind the Save the Regent cause. Here's some audio of him telling 4KQ's breakfast team of Laurel, Gary and Mark how this last-of-a-kind venue will be lost barring a last-minute change of heart by the State Government. As Des notes, not only are the Showcase (which, he confirms, does include material from the original Regent auditorium) and bar area set to be demolished but the Heritage-listed marble staircase is under threat by the development.

Throughout this process, Premier Anna Bligh has been promising a "vibrant arts hub" in the redeveloped Regent. Yet the details have been sketchy at best. Here's a question you might like to pose to your local MP, the Premier, the Deputy Premier or the Infrastructure Minister (See Links for contact details):

Could the Premier or other relevant minister please inform the people of Queensland of the exact length, in terms of years and/or months, of the agreement for BIFF and Screen Queensland to lease office space in the Regent Tower, and for films to be screened to the public, albeit only on weekends and public holidays, at the redeveloped venue?

A group of passionate people are organising a "queue" to draw attention to the closure of the Regent and the fact that the cinema can be saved. It will be held on Saturday, 29 May, between 11am and 11.30am in Reddacliffe Place, at the top of the Queen St Mall near the casino. The organisers write:

. There will be a simple 'queue', symbolically waiting, I guess, for the government and the developer to realise that the existing plans are inadequate.

I am all in favour of any way we can draw attention to this issue and, on the understanding that it's being organised properly and will be conducted in a legal and safe manner, I urge people who can do so to attend it.
- Brett Debritz
savetheregent.com webmaster