paul mallett advocates for building a city where creativity is civic infrastructure. A place where art, design, storytelling, and public expression sit alongside movement, belonging, and economic life. Creativity is not a luxury. It is how people make sense of their lives, strengthen community, and imagine better futures together.

Imagine a city where mural trails guide you through neighbourhoods. Where laneways are canvases, bridges are galleries, and blank walls become invitations. Picture local artists supported through a rolling multi-year mural program, with three or four new works added each year. Picture a Launceston that hosts a Five Minute Thesis night each season, giving people completing their study a stage to share bright ideas in simple language for everyone.

Creative infrastructure makes this possible. Paint-ready walls. Safe lighting. Public art funds. Micro-grants for pop-up exhibitions. School and community partnerships that turn creativity into a daily habit. A simple rule: if an idea adds colour, delight, or meaning, the city helps remove barriers.

The aim is simple: a city that feels alive, confident, and curious. A place where local talent is visible. Where visitors feel the energy of something being made. Where creativity is not only encouraged, but expected.

Let’s build a boldly creative city. Let’s bring colour to the everyday, including:

A world class mural trail

Transition from reactive graffiti removal to a proactive, city-supported public art program. Commission the stories of our people and our place on the walls we have kept blank for years. Local artists. School groups. Aboriginal stories honoured in public. The history of this city made visible in colour and craft, on every laneway and forgotten corner.

Walls that hold meaning do not need protecting. People respect what they helped create.

The return is a connected trail that school groups walk on excursions, that tourists add to their itinerary, and that visiting artists from around Australia want to be part of. Civic pride you can see from the footpath. A tourist drawcard built entirely from the inside out.

A Student Design Competition

Modelled on the Royal Society of Arts student awards, a citywide competition where students from primary to senior secondary respond to a real city brief. Work exhibited in libraries and public buildings. Feedback from architects, designers, and planners. Youth imagination treated as part of the city’s decision-making, not a sideshow.

A Five Minute Thesis Showcase

Students and young Launcestonians presenting research, ideas, and proposals to community, industry, and council audiences. Short, plain, public. Building the habit of participation and bringing young voices directly into civic debate.

A city where every wall tells a story. Where young people have a stage. Where creativity is expected, not exceptional.

That is the boldly creative city worth building.