The damning report calls for all the money seized from the Australia Council in the Federal Budget to be returned.

The Senate inquiry that has been gathering data in recent months as to the impact of Former Minister for the Arts, Senator George Brandis’s now defunct National Programme for Excellence in the Arts has released its findings. The 182 page report explored the testimony of representatives of the Australian arts and entertainment sector gathered during a national roadshow that visited every State capital in Australia as well as a number of regional arts hubs, as well as thousands of submissions made online.

In total 16 senators from the Liberal, Labor and Green parties, as well as Independents conferred on the vast dossier of evidence before making 13 recommendations that unequivocally slam the establishment of the National Programme for Excellence in Arts, rebranded two weeks ago by current Minister for the Arts Mitch Fifield as the Catalyst Fund.

The report also strongly criticised Senator Brandis’s lack of consultation with the arts community and his decision to siphon money from the Australia Council to fund the NPEA. Senator Mitch Fifield announced on the November 20 that...