Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased to be here today, to congratulate the 76 graduating students who represent Australia’s newest wave of creative talent. Graduates, you are following in the footsteps of generations of respected and admired practitioners who have studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Everyone here is confident that you will make a real and substantial contribution to NIDA’s continuing tradition through your own careers.
I want to talk more in a moment about the world that is waiting for your contribution. I also want to talk a little about why the Gillard Government is preparing a new national cultural policy. First I want to pay tribute to two individuals who have made a particularly significant contribution to NIDA and to the broader creative industry. With a record of more than 70 years of practice in her craft, Jean Carroll OAM is passing on her skills in millinery to a new generation of theatre artists as a teacher here at NIDA. It is just an amazing achievement – and today’s students are fortunate indeed to draw on Jean Carroll’s skills. Second, as you know, financing the arts is a complicated patchwork of private, public and corporate investment allied to box office and merchandising revenues.