Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on the Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Bill 2012. The bill establishes a scheme to protect cultural objects on loan from overseas.

This is very important. As the previous speaker said, it does give places overseas the confidence to lend institutions their objects, and having recently been to the National Gallery and having seen some of the pictures on loan for the Toulouse-Lautrec: Paris and the Moulin Rouge exhibition, it was very much appreciated by many people that they could see these wonderful pictures on display from around the world. In fact, some had first been displayed in the Louvre overseas in the late 1800s. It is very important that Australians here on Australian soil are able to see some wonderful things from around the world in our special institutions, and to ensure that countries, organisations and individuals that have possession of these wonderful items have the confidence to loan those to Australian institutions. This is a sensible bill, and not a controversial bill, so I commend the bill to the House.

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