Page 285 - Constructing Craft

Unpublished Cartoon. The threat of sales tax galvanised craftspeople to work together to oppose it.
‘This’ refers to ‘slow poison’. Cartoon in letter: Keith Blight to Jenny Pattrick, August 1979, CCNZ
Records. Keith Blight, potter, cartoonist and the Northern Representative on the CCNZ, expressed his
wish to withdraw the cartoon following the announcement by the Minister for Arts, Alan Highet, that
the sales tax would not apply to craftspeople earning under $50,000.

Challenging the Law

Unfortunately, the CCNZ was unable to maintain the same level of enthusiasm in

other matters. It appeared to take a more reactive stance on some issues – advising
and coordinating rather than leading. The CCNZ was struggling to find a place for

craft within the existing legislation concerned with factories, town and country

planning schemes and shop trading hours. The undercapitalised nature of many craft
studios made meeting the costs of complying with the laws and attempting to change

existing legislation a heavy burden. This was particularly evident in the craft of
glassblowing with its high energy costs. In late 1980, the Hot Glass Company Ltd in

Devonport was trying to delay registering as a factory while a Factories and
Commercial Premises Bill was in front of a Select Committee. The company owners,

Peter Raos and Peter Viesnik, hoped the new act would exempt ‘home crafts’ from

the existing provisions of the Factories Act of 1946. The CCNZ had reacted quickly to
the bill, making a submission on 14 March 1980 suggesting that the existing

Factories Act was ‘inappropriate as it appli[ed] to family craft studios, pottery clubs,

Constructing Craft