Ms Clare McLaughlin:

I thank the Senator for his question on what legislators can do. Legislation forces people to do things.

There is a need for legislation to give an equal footing for everybody to have access to art, and an equal footing for artists to earn a living wage with their creative process valued, rather than just having a basic income. They should be valued on the same level as everybody else. In regard to legislation, I always prefer to use the carrot to the stick, so I would encourage venues and every organisation that puts itself out there in public events to put together a team of people with all types of abilities and disabilities who can tell them what they would like to see in that venue or space. When a meaningful conversation has been had, we can then legislate, but not until then.