George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

As a matter of fact, Senator Di Natale, artistic freedom is explicitly protected by subsection (4) of the exposure draft. But I take it that your intended reference is to the Sydney Biennale. I might remind you that nine artists threatened to destroy the Sydney Biennale. Nine artists threatened to destroy this great Australian art event—and they were stopped. If an artist decides that they do not want to be associated with a particular event because of its association in turn with a particular commercial sponsor, that is entirely a matter for them. There is no law stopping them from choosing not to be associated with a particular event. But I am sorry to hear you using artistic freedom as a pretext to condone artists seeking to destroy a great arts event.