By Eamonn Kelly [The Australian, 16 August 2010]

Moffatt Oxenbould retired after 15 years as Opera Australia's artistic director. The Nugent Inquiry into the Major Performing Arts was released. In Melbourne, there was considerable agitation for a new state opera company. After a tempestuous decade, Opera Australia has returned to calmer waters under new artistic director Lyndon Terracini. The Nugent inquiry led to sustained Australia Council funding arrangements for 28 major performing arts companies through the Major Performing Arts Board. And in 2005, a new, "boutique"
state company, Victorian Opera, was announced.