The sweet spot: A portrait of Queensland’s arts minister
John-Paul Langbroek has had a lifelong passion for the arts and is known for short, sharp speeches, which is a perfect combo when you’re the arts minister at an exciting time in Queensland’s history.
John-Paul Langbroek has been a happy man since the LNP won the state election. Because not only is he back in government (he has been here before), he also has the portfolios his heart desires.
As Minister for Education and the Arts he has hit the ground running. When he’s not turning a sod at some school or making a major announcement about education funding, he’s at the theatre.
In fact, he’s been a tad ubiquitous at QPAC and elsewhere since taking office, which is something the arts community appreciates.
“To show my interest I launched Opera Queensland’s season and Queensland Ballet’s season,” Langbroek says.
He was on hand early late last year to launch the blockbuster APT11 exhibition at QAGOMA (one of his first arts gigs) and won a few fans that night with a short, sharp, speech. Sometimes arts launches tend to go on too long, but Langbroek is a no-nonsense guy who likes to cut to the chase. So, when he gets up to speak you know it will be brief, succinct but enthusiastic. Bless him.
The arts has always had strong bipartisan support in Queensland. The state’s past two arts ministers, Leeanne Enoch and before that Ian Walker in the Newman Government, were both engaged and popular.
The arts is vitally important, particularly with the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics looming and the Cultural Olympiad in mind leading up to it.
"Langbroek emphasised this when we sat down to chat about his new gig, although he has been here before as acting arts minister some years ago. He’s a former leader of the opposition, too, and as the Member for Surfers Paradise since 2004 he’s had a long and successful political career, winning and losing."
Now, at 64, he seems to have hit a sweet spot. He’s relaxed and happy in the service. You can’t keep him away from the theatre, which he attends regularly, sometimes with wife Stacey. The other night when I bumped into him in the foyer of the Playhouse at QPAC he had his son Piers with him and the minister was wearing one of his distinctive sports jackets. Gold Coast Casual, we used to call that.
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‘I love people … and I love the arts. I’m just so thrilled to have it back’
As a former Gold Coaster myself we have a lot to talk about, so a brief chat turns into a long chat, with his minders looking at their watches. But while he might like to keep it short at official functions, in private John-Paul Langbroek likes to chat.
“I love people,” he tells me. “And I love the arts. I’m just so thrilled to have it back – and arts and education is a very good fit. People can sense if the arts minister knows and cares.”
Yes, minister, we can. And there’s never been a more exciting time for the arts in Queensland.
“I’m definitely thinking about the Olympics,” Langbroek says. “This enables us to get a focus within government, tying it to the fact that we have this opportunity. We’re not Paris but, from an arts perspective, my job is to show the premier and treasurer and other ministers how important the arts is. I know everyone is talking about the sport – and when I was young I thought sport was all important – but the arts is also very important.”
He does still enjoy his sport, though, as I noted on one of Langbroek’s recent Instagram post, showing him and Stacey at the Titans.
“Do you follow me on Instagram,” he asks. I shake my head guiltily. “I do now,” I reply. I have been monitoring his feed ever since. If you want to see what JP, as they call him, is up to – this is the way to do it, because he’s pretty active on his socials. That’s cool.
Despite the change in political parties, the arts will continue to be supported in Queensland. Langbroek’s latest bout of largesse occurred recently with the announcement of support for live music festivals “amped up”(get it?) with grants worth $400,000.
Arts Queensland’s Organisations Fund 2026-2029 aims to help small-to-medium Queensland-based arts and cultural groups.
“Our investment will ensure Queensland’s arts and cultural festivals provide access to high quality arts experiences, platform local artists and stories, and work to supercharge tourism outcomes across the state,” he says.
That last bit – across the state – is important, as Langbroek says there is a strong vision for the regions.
“That’s my job and I’m working behind the scenes to show that there is a vision,” he says. “We have a lot going on and there is a thirst for arts in the regions. I have been to the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair a couple of times and I hope to go to the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville this year.
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“And Stacey and I are going to Winton for two days in May for the Festival of Outback Opera.”
Langbroek is catholic in his tastes. That’s catholic with a small “c” since he and sister Kate Langbroek (the celebrated Melbourne radio, TV star and author) were brought up as Jehovah’s Witnesses. So, his younger years were, well, a bit restricted.
Born in the Netherlands, Langbroek was one year old when the family migrated to Queensland. His father was a teacher at state schools and Langbroek went to school at various places, including the Gold Coast and Brisbane, where he graduated from Sunnybank State High School before going on to study dentistry at the University of Queensland.
“I’m a state school kid but Stacey went to Stuartholme School at Toowong,” he says. “I like to say I married up. State school boy marries Stuartholme girl.”
There’s a headline. After a somewhat restricted childhood he did start going to theatre and live music. His parents were arts lovers, which was an influence.
“My dad liked opera and the orchestra and my parents took me to the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as a boy.”
As a young man he was a conservative on campus who, not surprisingly, wasn’t involved in the student union, unlike certain contemporaries such as Anna Bligh and Paul Lucas.
“I didn’t have any interest in public life on campus,” he recalls. “I was too busy studying.”
But he did have an interest in music and was a regular at Brisbane’s Festival Hall. He keeps old ticket stubs to rock gigs and the theatre. Among them are tickets to AC/DC’s Back in Black tour in the very early ’80s.
He went to work as a dentist in the UK and attended epic rock shows there. He once saw Rudolph Nureyev perform in London.
“I also went to Live Aid at Wembley Stadium and saw Queen, which was amazing,” he says. “We would listen to Top of the Pops in our dental surgery and I went to lots of gigs. I saw Don McLean at The Barbican, INXS at the Royal Albert Hall and Mental as Anything.”
He met Stacey in London and the pair settled back on the Gold Coast where they raised their three children – Bronte, Piers and Chloe.
“And I’m proud to say that HOTA is in my electorate. When I was Leader of the Opposition I remember Andrew Fraser saying that if you wanted to see art – drive 70km up the road to Brisbane.”
He gives Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate full credit for remedying that situation without state funding.
Recently, Langbroek has been a fixture at opening nights and some afternoon shows (he was a guest of honour at Southern Cross Soloists’ first Sunday arvo concert for the year). That is not lost on the arts community. And he’s happy to chat in the foyer before the show and at interval.
And if he’s giving a speech before or afterwards – don’t worry. It will be short and sweet … just the way we like it.