"Inspiring cultural policy" ... newly appointed Arts Minister Tony Burke.
The new Arts Minister Tony Burke has moved to reassure the arts community that the National Cultural Policy will be implemented.
Burke, 43, was appointed Arts Minister on Monday after previous minister Simon Crean's axing from the front bench.
Within minutes yesterday of Prime Minister Julia Gillard announcing his new portfolio, Burke tweeted: "Simon Crean produced an inspiring cultural policy in Creative Australia. It's an honour to implement it as Arts Minister."
Arts will not be Burke's sole portfolio. He retains his responsibilities as Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
Ms Gillard said Burke "has a longstanding interest in the arts and was a keen recruit to the task".
Burke will be assisted by Michael Danby as his parliamentary secretary, "whose lifelong commitment to the arts started when, as a teenager, he worked in his mother's art gallery".
Burke was born in Sydney and educated at the University of Sydney, where he graduated in arts and law. He joined the Labor Party at the age of 16.
Prior to his career in politics, where he became part of a new generation shaping NSW Labor's Right faction, he set up business with friends from his university debating team, training clients from the corporate and education sectors in advocacy and communication skills.
They named the company after Atticus Finch, the central character in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
"The lesson we took from the character of Atticus was that if you want to know how somebody thinks, you need to get into his shoes," Burke said.
"So if you want to be persuasive you have to understand where the people who are listening to you are coming from.
"One of the things you learn from debating is to understand both sides of an argument. It forces you to understand how someone who would disagree with you would think."
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