Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

As many of the collecting institutions are quite rightly very well known, I'd like to highlight a few possibly lesser known examples that deliver on the vision of 50 years ago. In his speech in 1967, Prime Minister Holt outlined the focus of the National Gallery's collection as including the cultural achievements of Australia's neighbours in southern and eastern Asia and the Pacific islands. The National Library of Australia has created a world-class research collection on contemporary Indonesia and maintains an office in Jakarta. The cultural institutions have developed close links with neighbouring countries and are increasingly collaborating on significant exhibitions and providing expert advice on conservation and curation of national collections. It is important on an occasion such as this to acknowledge the contribution of both sides of politics to the arts, but, at this time, we pause to reflect on the legacy of former Prime Minister Holt.