WITH her six-day-old son, Ignatius, nearby, Cate Blanchett co-chaired the 2020 summit creative-arts stream yesterday - but admitted she would much rather be in bed.
The Academy Award-winning actress said there would be a new era in which artists and governments worked together.
"Oh, God, there goes thebaby in the hallway,'' Blanchett said as she began her speech to 100 of her creative-arts colleagues.
"The opportunity this weekend represents is great because it's the beginning ofalong and meaningful relationship between artist and the government as a fundamental aspect of society.
"It's a measure of my belief in the weekend that I'm here at all. As you could imagine, I would much rather be in bed.''
Combining her role as new mum with her role as co-chair, Blanchett said she hoped the weekend would generate ideas that would eventually benefit her son when he reached high school in 2020.
Wearing an olive green dress-suit, she told the 100 creative-arts participants about meeting former US president Bill Clinton in a hotel room in London a few years ago.
"He liked talking to blonde artists, he said, because they existed just a fraction ahead of culture,'' Blanchett said.
"He said he always read the latest airport novels, spy thrillers, unpublished manuscripts and screenplays because writers were often right on the money where thetechnology and ideology were heading.''
Mr Clinton's remark showed he appreciated that artists had an ability to understand and interpret world events, she said.
"The arts binds communities, it liberates demons, it challenges authorities, warms our hearts and cools our tempers.''
Earlier, Ignatius slept in apouch in the arms of his father, Andrew Upton, while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave his opening address.
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, seated beside Upton, fussed over the baby.
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