Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Could I suggest to the minister that she might ask Senator McLucas, who was there. At that festival Mr Jim Turnour, the member for Leichhardt, said he and Senator McLucas were representing the federal government, and he said that the federal government wanted to ensure the continuing success of the festival so that the Commonwealth could help nurture and protect the culture of Indigenous people. I ask the minister, now that she has had a note from Senator McLucas: was Mr Turnour speaking the truth in that he was saying the federal government wanted to nurture the culture through this festival? If he was speaking the truth, why is it that the government did not provide the normal funding for the festival?