Kate Hulett

So it has a critique to it, which can be dangerous for politicians.

Whereas sports can be our team won, our team lost.

Great, yay, great.

Oh, we've seen another kid that's got through to the Olympics.

Fantastic.

But when I was in the audience of this stand-up comedian, I thought if you're the arts minister, it would be very uncomfortable to sit in that room and listen to those jokes.

about the state of our government and its impacts on our world.

You know, it's like the way that we've doubled the price of degrees for critical thinking and arts degrees because actually that's a dangerous area for the government to fund because it critiques them and it's easier for them not to have close inspection and reflection.

It's easier for them to say...

Let's just invest in sports.

It's so good.

You know, but actually what defines us isn't our sportsmanship, it's our culture and how we behave with each other.

And, you know, for me culture and community are so intertwined and when I think about the best places in the world and where you visit and you reflect on, you think, God, those people are so lovely or it was such a great place to get around or the cafes and the vibe and the, you know, so much diversity

life in those places and that's what we need to nurture and yeah so it's definitely Fremantle is recognized as one of the cultural hot spots in Australia but fortunately artists and creators are going to do their thing whether or not they're funded and I think Thatcher said that you know no matter if you give them money or no money they're going to still make

Yeah, and the determined ones will do it.

Some will go, well, I'll just go and be a Sparky because it's like you have a job and get money.

I mean, when I was going through school, my brother was a bit older than me and he was an art teacher.

And I would just think I'm not going to do art because you can't get a proper job.

You know, he was a sculptor but he was making money through teaching.

But it felt like the most hopeless of careers.