SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.- The rising costs ofr insurance protection has affected the arts. Tamara Winikoff, the executive director of the National Association for the Visual Arts, stated: "The extraordinary rises in public liability premiums [are] virtually going to drive artists out of the public domain. Only in recent times has Australia recognised the role of art in public space and the result has been that there has been a flourish of wonderful works. Now, what we are doing is going back to the bad old days." The commissioning of public art works, sculptures and murals could be delayed due to this increase. NSW Premier Bob Carr stated, "If it becomes an exercise where the states go there and put forward a range of proposals and nothing's agreed, we are wasting everyone's time and this crippling increase in insurance rates is going to go on."