On May 18, 2102, Hon. Kevin Rudd visited COFA. Rudd was Prime Minister when COFA received $48 million from the Australian Government through the Education Investment Fund.

The money supports the Gateway@COFA, a state of the art teaching, learning and studio/laboratory redevelopment of COFA's Paddington campus which will transform art and design education in Australia to meet the growing demands of the global creative economy.

The former Prime Minister inspected progress on the site and also took the opportunity to reiterate his strong belief in the importance and value of creative education for Australia's future. COFA's Dean, Prof. Ian Howard says, "Mr Rudd understands that a successful and powerful nation is led by creative people and he recognised the importance of COFA as a creative institution."

While at COFA, Rudd also received a gift of a painting from Col Xing Junxin. Rudd met the artist when, as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, he opened an exhibition of work by Xing Junxin and Ian Howard.

This video was shot on Friday 18th May, 2012.