Acceptance speech on being presented with the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Arts Business Leadership Award. AbaF Awards dinner, Brisbane, 15 October 2009.

I acknowledge the original custodians of this land and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Minister, other dignitaries, and so many valued colleagues here tonight…

For my name to be linked with that of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch in any context is as humbling as it is an honour. Dame Elisabeth once said to me, as I’m sure she has said to many others (some of whom are in this room tonight) “I’ve been very lucky”.

But she used her luck of fortune in the most generous way, and she made a decision to support, nurture, and enable art.

I don’t need to deliver homilies about the value of art in this company tonight: you are all here because you already know that art is integral to a civilized society.

But I guess we can use this moment to call out to all those individuals and companies who do also have the luck of fortune, and urge them to get on board.

I repeat: art is not a frill on the frock of life, it is the very fabric; without it we are naked to the often cruel, harsh and unjust elements of life. Art refreshes and inspires through sheer beauty and virtuosity. But art is also the safest place to explore dangerous ideas, and that forum is essential in this critical moment of change for the 21st century.

Go forth to your colleagues in business with this message …

If your mantra in business is, as it should be, ‘innovate or die’, then get yourself an artist or arts company. In return for your support you can maintain a dialogue with creativity and access their ingenuity and their instinct for innovation. It’s true that creativity is not the provenance of art alone – it happens in all spheres – but creativity in art has special powers to inspire.

Thanks to AbaF for all the work you do. Thanks to you in business who are already helping to weave the arts into the life of the nation. And thanks for this award.

Robyn Archer AO