The National Cultural Policy was worth waiting for. Arts Minister Simon Crean kept pushing Treasury until he got the money to put behind the ideas. He got the National Curriculum review on side to ensure every child will get an arts education and he utilised to the hilt his own portfolio in the placement of arts with local government and regional development.
As a result, he has delivered a policy which has the potential to place culture at the centre of Australia thinking for the first time in a generation.
