The singer-songwriter’s questions on the Government’s arts funding track record were dodged by the PM.

The Australian arts community has mobilised in the run-up to the Federal Election in two weeks, with nation-wide campaigns underway to bring a radical overhaul to current arts funding policies. Cuts and unpopular restructuring have battered the creative industries during the Abbott-Turnbull administrations while in contrast, the Labor Party and the Greens have made significant pledges to invest in the arts should either be elected.

Many high-profile artists have lent their voices to the cause, but few have had the opportunity to directly challenge the Prime Minister in person. Singer-songwriter and incoming director of the Queensland Music Festival Katie Noonan had the chance on the ABC’s political panel discussion Q&A yesterday evening, and she didn’t shy away from grilling the PM on his position on arts funding. “I truly believe the arts have the power to heal and unify our nation like nothing else can,” Noonan said in her opening statement to the Prime Minister, before asking him, “Do you believe that?”

Noonan also challenged Turnbull on his understanding of the economics of the arts, asking, “The arts...