A dining club which I was involved in at Oxford University invited Sir Isaiah Berlin to dinner, who I believe was probably the greatest liberal philosopher in the 20th century. I sat beside him and we spoke about liberal philosophy and the events of the 20th century all night over dinner - it was unforgettable!

As a Liberal of course I am very strongly committed to the notion of artistic freedom and very hostile to the idea of there being a single view of cultural policy dictated from on high.

I was President of the Queensland Young Liberals in 1981.

You asked me about Queensland in particular and regional Queensland where our message of jobs and growth is resonating strongly because that's what is on people's mind, and when the election results are in on 2nd July, I'm confident that that message will be translated into the ballot box.

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.

We must break out of this mindset in Australia that we are a small nation on the other side of the world from the main, great Western nations. Australia is the twelfth largest economy in the world. We are a not insignificant player in commerce, in geopolitics and we must be in culture as well and we are.

Well everyone's careers is a series of steps, but being the President of the Young Liberals or the President of a Liberal society at university is an important step in the Liberal Party in terms of being noticed and making your name known.