NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin defends covering arts

Don Harwin says there are simply more arts organisations than there are energy companies.

NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin. Picture: AAP

NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin has defended filling his ministerial diary with arts organisation appointments, saying there are simply more of them than there are energy companies.

In the year to September, Mr Harwin has sat down 29 different times with groups such as the ARIAs and the Sydney Theatre Company but has had only 11 meetings with gas and coal producers, and groups that advocate for them.

The revelations have fuelled criticism that Mr Harwin is more focused on his arts portfolio than he is on bringing down energy ­prices in NSW.

“There are thousands of arts organisations across NSW while there are only around 100 energy companies,” Mr Harwin’s spokeswoman said.

“The minister has met with a greater percentage of energy companies this year than he has with arts organisations.”

Mr Harwin made headlines this week when he attacked Scott Morrison over his refusal to revive Malcolm Turnbull’s energy guarantee and called the government “out of touch” on climate policy, in an opinion piece for newspapers.

In January, Mr Harwin infuriated thousands of residents by saying blackouts were “par for the course”. In that month, he met only Red Room Poetry, an organisation that “aims to make poetry a meaningful part of everyday life”, and performing arts group Synergy and Taikoz Ltd. Between July and September, the only coal and gas producers he met with were AGL (twice) and Glencore.

During that same time, he had 13 arts-related meetings, including with cabaret artist Trevor Ashley, best known for his drag impersonation of Hollywood star Liza Minnelli, and the Australian Children’s Music Foundation.

The ministerial diary disclosures include only arranged meetings with the minister, not public events. The Australian revealed this week that Mr Harwin invited the state’s biggest coalminers to a $990-a-head Liberal Party fundraising dinner last month.

It was also revealed that he wrote in the Hunter Valley-based At The Coalface magazine about his support of coalminers.

A NSW Liberal Party spokesman at the time did not respond to a request in relation to who ­attended or how much money was raised. “The NSW Liberal Party fully complies with our obligations under commonwealth and state electoral funding laws, and declares donations in line with those obligations under the relevant legislation,” he said.

In response to questions about his piece in the coal magazine, Mr Harwin said there was ­“absolutely” a ­future for coal in the state.