Maybe Andrew Bolt should be the arts rep at 2020

Andrew Bolt today despairs over the appointment of our Cate Blanchett to head up the arts section of Kevin Rudd's 2020 steering committee.

"Cate Blanchett? To help pick the brains to guide us through the century? Spare me," he writes.
"Rudd is not picking people who’d give him ideas but who’d give him lustre."
Maybe Bolt would be better placed to be in the steering committee. He is, after all, quite an accomplished poet:

INDECISION by Andrew Bolt
I know not where I stand.
Have I the right to demand possession?
Or should I leave her to those who claim her?
Should I cover my thoughts with thin jest
Instead of expressing them?
Would she be embarrassed,
Look for a gentle way to 'stand off''?
A way that hurts more than an insult.
Is it easier to step aside and watch
As others, more confident than I, move in
And make her smile and laugh?
See how each laugh makes the distance between
Grow, and with it, my resignation?

I don't know Blanchett's expertise or her knowledge, but I do know that she is very committed to the arts cause and is bringing it widespread publicity, which is something I didn't really believe.

It is safe to say that she isn't the most qualified - any number of academics, journalists, lobbyists, advocates or arts workers would be better placed - but one thing is sure, for Andrew Bolt to question her intelligence is just a little, just a tad trite.

It is interesting to see how international news agencies and wire services are reporting on the story.

Reuters: Cate Blanchett leads Australia arts brainstorming meet
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian actress Cate Blanchett may have missed out on a second Oscar, but she has been picked to head a think-tank on the future of arts in her home country as a consolation prize, the government said on Tuesday.


DPA: Rudd blasted after Blanchett picked for art talkfest
Sydney - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was blasted Tuesday after he named glamorous Hollywood actor Cate Blanchett the only woman in a 10-member panel that in April will lead a high-octane Canberra summit charged with mapping out Australia's art future. Blanchett, who this week missed out on converting her two Oscar nominations into actual awards, gets to help pick the rest of the 1,000 "best and brightest" summiteers.


BBC: Rudd plans summit on 2020 vision
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has revealed plans for a summit to discuss the challenges facing Australia and to set a vision for the future.