Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hanson-Young for her question. At the outset, as I think I've said on every day so far this week, I urge caution in relation to some of the commentary around the omicron variant of COVID-19. There are still things that are not yet known about it, which is why some precautionary steps have been taken, such as the two-week deferral of Australia's reopening for movement of students and other particular visa-category holders. Many experts are highlighting that perhaps some of the concerns around this variant are less than were first thought in the initial couple of days when we became more aware of it publicly. Nonetheless, we take the matter seriously.

We've also taken quite seriously support for the creative economy. The creative economy COVID support package was originally $250 million. Since then, we have increased it to over $475 million. That's in addition to some $730 million provided to the creative and performing arts subdivision of industry through JobKeeper, and about $119 provided in cash-flow payments to creative and performing arts organisations. Altogether, we can see that the COVID support has been well in excess of $1 billion through a range of different measures. That's in addition to the business-as-usual funding provided to the arts sector of around $750 million per annum from the government, along with other additional support. So I don't accept the characterisation from Senator Hanson-Young in relation to an absence of support. Support has been significant, extensive and expanded throughout the course of the pandemic.