Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Minister for Arts and Attorney-General) (15:02): Thank you very much indeed, Senator Gallagher, for being so generous as to ask me that question, because it does give me the opportunity to speak of one of the great new arts initiatives which this government is introducing with this budget, the National Program for Excellence in the Arts, which will invest $107 million over four years to widen access to arts funding. Senator Gallagher, it should be pointed out, to put this in context, that for the second consecutive year there has been no significant reduction in arts funding overall. Senator Cormann: What? Senator BRANDIS: Yes, I'm sorry, Senator Cormann. In fact, there has been no reduction in arts funding of any substance this year. But what we have done is we have broadened access to arts funding so that individuals, organisations, arts practitioners who were unable to get funding through the Australia Council will now be able to get funding. I can tell you that in the last 24 hours, Senator Gallagher, the reaction in the sector has been extremely enthusiastic. Let me refer you to some of the reactions, Senator Gallagher. Li Cunxin, the much respected Artistic Director of the Queensland Ballet, said: 'What a brilliant initiative. My sincere congratulations and well done.' Jonathan Mills, the internationally renowned Australian festival director, said: 'I applaud this initiative and the minister is to be congratulated for supporting the festival sector.' Rob Brookman, the CEO of the State Theatre Company of South Australia, said: 'I have no doubt that this will see fantastic results.' So what this does, Senator Gallagher, is it broadens access. The Australia Council will still be the principal arts funding body in Australia. It will be responsible for about 88 per cent of arts funding. But nobody thinks that monopolies are a good idea. This gives opportunities to people who did not have them before.