"Every item of spending needs to be scrutinised more closely": Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson. "Why do we fund $7 billion a year into the arts and who knows how many billions into sport?" Mitchell asked. "Maybe we reassess and say let's fix some grassroots problems and forget about sport and the arts?" "I agree, Neil," Senator Paterson replied. "$39 billion deficit last year. It's not a time when we can really be affording luxury. We've got to look at all areas of spending. "I find it difficult to understand why Australia is so generous when it comes to professional sport. Given that there's a lot of private funding for professional sport, I don't think it's really necessary for us to be funding it from our taxes." Senator Paterson also volunteered Australia Post as "the next cab off the rank" for full privatisation, but drew the line at junking the $200 million same-sex marriage plebiscite to save money. "It's something we took to the election," he said.

Major drawcard: Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles is currently on loan to the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Credit:Carl Court Speaking to Fairfax Media later, Senator Paterson declined to go into further detail about axing funding for sport and the arts. "One privatisation a day is enough," he said, clarifying that he was making "a general philosophical point" about the use of taxpayers' money. "When you've got a $40 billion budget deficit, every item of spending needs to be scrutinised more closely," he said. "Let's fight that battle once I've got Blue Poles privatised - uh, sold." Illustration: Matt Golding Senator Paterson said former prime minister John Howard and former treasurer Peter Costello exemplified debt reduction strategies because they mixed structural budget repair with privatisation, such as the sale of Telstra.

"They would not have been able to pay back the debt with just one or the other. You have to do a bit of everything," he said. His main objection to Blue Poles was that it was an American artwork with little cultural value here. "It's a great painting and it's had a huge impact on the art world, but it's not Australian," he told 3AW. The 28-year-old has furnished his own Parliament House office with some modest artworks from an $84 million catalogue provided to MPs once they take their seat in Canberra. He said he did not see the point in handing back the works because "I don't think they would agree to sell it". Neither was there much enthusiasm within government ranks for flogging off Blue Poles. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the painting was "a national art treasure" and he could not see it being sold.

"But I don't criticise James Paterson for one moment for turning his mind to how we can get our budget into a stronger position for the future," he told Sky News. Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman also opposed the idea, telling Fairfax Media the painting was a good earner and the concept of liquidating cultural assets was highly questionable. "Leaving aside the dubious concept that selling the nation's cultural assets is a good idea, the fact is that Blue Poles is one the National Gallery's biggest drawcards," he said. "Anyone who has been to the gallery knows that most visitors make a beeline for Blue Poles before they see any of the other artworks, and it therefore brings the gallery and the ACT a considerable economic return." With tongue firmly in cheek, Mr Zimmerman suggested abolishing the Senate "would be a far more effective way of saving money, considering its intransigence when it comes to budget bills".

Loading Labor frontbencher Brendan O'Connor called Senator Paterson a "philistine". Follow us on Twitter