When more than $100 million was taken from the arts to establish a new fund with federal ministerial discretion, the industry feared the result would be politicised and ultimately damaging to the arts.
Those fears may have now been realised with the latest funding announcement: $1 million towards the heritage of Sir Hans Heysen (1877-1968) for a property in the South Australian electorate of Mayo, held by controversial Liberal MP Jamie Briggs, achieved as the result of lobbying by SA Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi – lobbying that is explicitly acknowledged in the government's own media release for this project.