Statement from Geoffrey Rush:
"....the serious damage to the Regent was really done in 1978 when we actually lost the full glory and splendour of a great architectural and cultural icon of Brisbane...but they left us with a bit of it in tact...how generous, how cunning, how manipulative, how patronising...
"Before the formerly unique splendour of the once-great boulevard of Queen Street becomes entirely mistaken for a Lego village or some high-fiving idiots' vision of their own pea-brained future, we must challenge and deny these most venal minds that Queensland too regularly puts in charge of our city's character. We must fight very very hard to maintain this building.
"In Melbourne we still have The Princess, The Comedy, Her Majesty's, The Forum, The Athenaem, The Astor (recently rescued by a sale to a forward-thinking school - education, geddit?) all of which are beautiful and tell their own story of the city's history, creating a lively hub of musical theatre success, Melbourne Film Festival forums and screenings, rock concerts, brilliant cinema retrospectives on the big screen - none of which is hurting the city's artistic and economic bounty. "
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