I think it displayed what the Australia Council does so well, the awarding of artists who at various steps in their career had been encouraged by the Australia Council.

I joined the Young Liberals when I was 16 and it was a good way for me to understand how the Liberal Party worked and to learn basic political skills and techniques.

The modern Australia, the Australia of the 21st Century, Malcolm Turnbull's Australia has nothing to do with the kind of protectionist and xenophobic attitudes that Pauline Hanson represents.

I'm reading Barnaby Rudge, one of the less well-known Dickens novels. I've been a life-long lover of Charles Dickens ever since I think A Tale of Two Cities was the first Dickens novel I read.

I think it's very, very important that people outside the capital cities, not just Sydney and Melbourne but also Brisbane Perth Adelaide and so on, have the greatest access to the best cultural experiences they can in both the performing arts and the visual arts.

I think it's important to have a blend just as we need to have by the way a mix of different opera companies and different arts companies.

I've spent some time in North and Central Queensland, in fact as recently as yesterday I was in Rockhampton, where the seat of Capricornia is based. I have to tell you that people in Queensland, but particularly regional Queensland, are very concerned about jobs. They are very concerned that the economic future for themselves and their children and their grandchildren should be - should be clear.