Alistair Coe MLA

Speech in the ACT Legislative Assembly

27 October 2011

I rise this evening to put on the record the Run and Walk for Fun event in memory of Ben Donohoe. It is an event which raises money for the ACT Eden Monaro Cancer Support Group and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The event is in memory of Ben. It is a wonderful family day out, binding the community together in the social side of keeping fit.

The story of Ben is a very sad one. He passed away in 2005 after an eight-week battle with a brain tumour. However, it is lovely that we can all remember him and those other families who have been touched by a similar tragedy through the event which will be taking place on 6 November 2011. It is wonderful that the ACT Eden Monaro Cancer Support Group and Make-A-Wish Australia will be the recipients of the funds raised on the day.

Before acknowledging some of the organisations which have contributed to making the event happen, I would like to give warm thanks to the Hawker College sports administration students who make the event happen. I think it is wonderful that the community comes together like that, and in particular the school community in pulling together such a wonderful event which I am looking forward to taking part in in a little over a week.

I would like to acknowledge the partnering sponsor, McDonald’s; the media sponsors, WIN, Mix 106.3 and the Canberra Times; the gold sponsors, Starkis Design, New Millennium Print and Hawker College sports administration; the silver sponsors, ActewAGL, Care Traffic, Hoyts, IGA Florey, Run For Your Life magazine, Telstra, the University of Canberra and the Raiders; the bronze sponsors, the ACT government, Bentleys of Canberra, Bowtie Promotions, Bytes ‘n Colours, CISAC, David Beach Photography, Eclipse Lighting and Sound, Granite Transformations, TLE Electrical Belconnen and Servcorp; and the intermediate sponsors, Belconnen Orthodontics, Bunnings Warehouse Belconnen, Capital Trophies and Sportswear, Coca Cola, Granitevale Estate, Manuka Smiles, M&J Plunkett Builders, Ziggy’s Fruit Market and GMT People.

I understand that over 9,000 people have participated in the fun run and some $220,000 has been raised, which really is quite an extraordinary feat. As I said, the event is taking place on Sunday, 6 November. The race starts at 9.30 am for the 6.3-kilometre leg and 9.45 for the 3.4-kilometre leg, with an awards ceremony taking place alongside a concert at 10.30 in the John Knight Memorial Park. I note that dogs are also welcome.

I encourage all members of this place and all Canberrans to get behind this wonderful event and to find out more information on the website of Hawker College, which is www.hawkerc.act.gov.au/runandwalkforfun. I look forward to seeing members there on 6 November.

Speech in the Legislative Assembly

26 October 2011 

This evening I would like to acknowledge the organisers of the Belconnen Salvation Army annual spring fair that was held on Saturday, 22 October.

The corps officers at the Belconnen Salvation Army have worked tirelessly to ensure that the day was a great success. I know that envoys Roz Edwards and Angela Czoban would like me to acknowledge the generosity of a number of ACT businesses and individuals whose contribution has greatly enhanced the ability of the Belconnen Salvos to continue their work and ministry in the Belconnen community. In addition to church services, the Belconnen Salvation Army provides an extensive range of recreational and support activities for all age groups.

The organisation and in particular Belconnen Salvation Army certainly punch well above their weight.

I would like to acknowledge the following for their contribution and generosity at Saturday’s spring fair: the RAAF hot air balloon; ACT Policing for the appearance of Kenny Koala, who is always a favourite with young and old alike; Prime Possum and Prime TV; Kestine from Love Your Style; the Tuggeranong and Queanbeyan Salvation Army Corps; Andante Andante choir; the Murrumbidgee bush band; bush poet Lorraine McCrimmon; the Hawker primary school band; Southern Cross early childhood school choir; Kingsford Smith school choir; sirens cheerleading; Katherine for the pony rides; Bunnings Belconnen; That’s Cool; Audio Solutions; Event Hire; Northside Community Services; Dickson Salvation Army Welfare; Community CPS Credit Union; Care Traffic Services; Sydney SAES; Aussie Farmers; Canberra Milk; Coca-Cola Amatil; Gloria Jean’s; Rodney’s of Pialligo; The Garden; Yowani golf club; Club Lime; Mogo Zoo; Solartint; Brumbies; Merimbula Beach Resort; Kidszone; Westpac; Smith’s Snackfoods; Commonwealth Park; Tradies club; McDonalds; Magpies Football Club; Canberra Recovery Services; and, finally, Brendan Smyth for his compering skills on the day.

This is also a great opportunity to put in a plug for the upcoming carols on the lawn. It is a Salvation Army event which will be taking place on 11 December at the Belconnen Salvation Army headquarters in Scullin. It will feature the Salvation Army brass band. I encourage everyone to attend.

Speech in the Legislative Assembly

26 October 2011

MR COE (Ginninderra): This evening, I would also like to talk about the wonderful work of Fusion Canberra. I had the great pleasure of attending the Friends of Fusion fundraising dinner last night.

Fusion is an international youth and community organisation with three part-time paid staff but 50 volunteers giving of their time on a weekly basis. With between 150 and 200 other volunteers involved throughout the year, the organisation manages 20 different projects and programs.

Fusion works to give disadvantaged and marginalised young people a purpose in the community and gives them the resilience to deal with adversity. This work includes breakfast clubs in schools, chaplains in two high schools, Wombat Wardrobe quality second hand clothing and book stores, sustainable living education, youth programs at schools, youth adventure day trips, and Aboriginal reconciliation work focused on an annual pilgrimage to Uluru for high school children from across Australia.

Co-located with their hub at the Carleton Street shops in Kambah is their largest initiative, their social enterprise called Wombat Wardrobe. This social enterprise, opened in May 2010 by Senator Gary Humphries with Steve Doszpot MLA present, has quickly become a community hub for Canberrans. With a great story in last week’s Canberra Weekly Magazine, it is no longer a well-kept secret. All proceeds from the enterprise go directly to support Fusion’s valuable and community work in Canberra, the Northern Territory and Africa.

Fusion successfully ran for 17 years a horticulture and gardening project at the Lions Youth Haven property in Kambah. This supported the unemployed, refugees, mentally handicapped, disabled and youth. While there they developed innovative food production techniques and successfully trialled a new exciting technology called aquaponics that grows plants and fish in a closed organic system which has very low water use.

Key staff of the organisation that I would like to acknowledge this evening are team leader Brenton Reimann; high school chaplains Alissa Holden, Nigel Doecke and Ben Davis; other staff Sarah Peel, John Brummell, Alf Blasch, John Mann, Kristel Wood, Jimmy Cheng, Claire Reimann, Lydia Sewell, Greg Ashford, Rick Oates, Sarah Oates, Marilyn MacArthur, Gillian Uhle, Jessica He, Mike Ashford, Sandy Schumacher, Lyn Waldron, Inta Gollasch, Louise Garrett, Trevor Schumacher; the Wombat Shop assistants Indi, Keira, Katie, Colleen, Lilias, Esther and Tracy; the breakfast club volunteers Florine, Sue, Debra, Hassa, Rachael, Bec, Amanda and Phil; and their peer leaders Mike Loberger and Isabelle Del Perez.

The following businesses also work in partnership with Fusion: Southside Lighting, a gold partner; Office Partners, Mitchell, a silver partner; Milestone Financial Services, Deakin, a bronze partner; Capital Chilled Foods, Fyshwick; Insitec, Fyshwick; and A1 Signs.

Churches and organisations that work with Fusion include: ACT and Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Unity College, Canberra; St George’s Anglican Church, Pearce; Lutheran Immanuel Community Church, Lyons; Chinese Methodist Church, Lyons; St Marys in the Valley Anglican Church, Calwell; Capital Edge Community Church, Erindale; Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade, ACT; 1Way FM Christian radio station; Canberra Chinese Christian Church; Youth with a Mission, Canberra; Ainslie Church of Christ, Anglican youth department of the diocese of Canberra and Goulburn; Scripture Union ACT; Tuggeranong United Football Club; and the Canberra Organic Growers Society.

I offer my congratulations to all involved and commend Fusion Canberra for the great work they do in our community.

Speech in the Legislative Assembly

25 October 2011

I rise this evening to pay tribute to the hard work of the organisers of this year’s Dragons Abreast regatta that was held on Saturday, 22 October.

I was very pleased to participate in this year’s events as part of the Curves Corsairs team. We all had a lot of fun on the day and at the practices in the lead-up to the event. The team was put together by Anita O’Meara, who is the owner and manager of Curves Jamison and Gungahlin. Along with Anita I would like to acknowledge the other members of the team, including Suzanne Nucifora, Jessica Watson, Judith Barker, Keith Alexander, Sandra Hargraves, Peta Power, Tracy Feeney, Karen Etheredge, Yvette Walker, Colleen Bretag, Annette Bretell, Wendy Adams, Mariana Vicol, Raffy Borg, Justine Reynolds, Laura Owen, Boerge Alexander and David O’Meara. Whilst our times were not quite as competitive as some of the other boats, we all had a fun day, and I am sure we had the best catered tent for our post-race recovery. The event was a great way to boost awareness of breast cancer, to try out dragon boat racing and to enjoy the social aspects of being part of the team.

I would like to acknowledge the 42 teams who participated: Amaroo Puddlers; Angry Dragons; Breast Strokes; BunyiPAs; Burgmann; Burly Gryphons; Can’t Row, Can’t Swim; Cox; Crossfit Base; Curves Corsairs; Curves Wanniassa; DAFF Dragons; DEEWR Dragons; Defence Dambusters; DOFD (Finance); Double DHA; EuroStars; Flaming Briefs; GM’s Galley Slaves; Grammar; Gwen’s Gondola; Hotel Realm, who won the A final; i.Paddle; Kez’s Krew; Kiwiroos; KPMG Britannia; Lab Rats; Love Boat; Lymphomaniacs; MTS Dragon Slayers; Nutrimetics; Pioneer Princesses; QE3; Royal Super Soakers; Splash Dash & Race; Sustainable Dragons; Team UCAN; USAwesome; Westpac; Windlab and Zoo.

The event of course was a fundraising activity, with the majority of funds raised going to Dragons Abreast Australia, which, in turn, raises awareness of breast cancer and funds for breast cancer groups. Local beneficiaries are the Otis Foundation, which provides a lodge at Thredbo for R&R for those undergoing treatment; the ACT Palliative Care Society for the training of volunteers; Breast Cancer Network Australia, who provide advocacy; ACT Eden Monaro Cancer Support Group, who help with the practical issues of living with breast cancer; and Dragons Abreast ACT’s general running costs. The total raised from this year’s event has not been determined as yet but I do know that organisers were hoping to raise $40,000 from the event.

Thanks must go to those who made the event possible, including the chief organiser Boerge Alexander, Marion Blake, Megan Dennis, Di Wright, Patsy Sheales, Debbie Whitfield, Elspeth Humphries, Carol Summerhayes, Colleen White, Anne Baynes, Judy Cluse, Cindy Young, Anna Wellings Booth and Susan Pitt. Thanks also to the many others who assisted on the day, including Gillian Styles; Leslie Ralph; Les Williams; Bill Book; Mavis Fowler; Margaret Ritchie; Cathy Powell; Alex Skorich; the Dragon Boat Association and all the teams; the Rotary Club of North Canberra, Gungahlin and Hall; Suncorp for providing the barbecue; Canberra Yacht Club; ACT Rowing Association; Nutrimetics; Om Shanti College and St John’s Ambulance. I commend all those involved with the event and I look forward to the 2012 event.

Speech in the Legislative Assembly

25 October 2011

This evening I would like to acknowledge Motorcycle Awareness Week, which was launched in Garema Place on Saturday, 22 October. Motorcycle Awareness Week is full of events aimed at raising awareness for riders and they have included the Old Parliament House ride for remembrance and of course the launch of the week in Garema Place on Saturday, which coincided with the launch of Joe Rider, an initiative that will encourage road users to look out for riders wearing specially designed Joe Rider  vests.

The pink ribbon ride was held today and was organised by Girls on the Move. The gear study talk is being held at the Hellenic Club tonight, featuring Liz De Rome, a leading expert in motorcycle safety gear. On Friday there will be a ride to work Friday, followed by breakfast at the east lawn area of King Edward Terrace, and Saturday will see the annual Vietnam vets poker run. The event will culminate in BikeFest 2011 to be held at EPIC on Sunday, 30 October, where there will be dealer displays, club displays, gymkhana events and the show and shine. I encourage everyone here to attend as many events as they can.

I would like to acknowledge the executive members of the Motorcycle Riders Association of the ACT: president, Jennifer Woods; senior vice president, Dave Ault; vice president, Kathleen Parsons; secretary, Nicky Hussey; and treasurer, Sylvia Sinfield.

As the name suggests, the aim of the week is to raise awareness of motorcycles on our roads and highlight the issues that face riders. I would also like to acknowledge the many member organisations of the MRA.

Recently I enjoyed going for a ride around Canberra with Jen Woods and Peter Major to gain an understanding of some of the issues facing the 36,000 licensed riders in the ACT. The Canberra Liberals support motorcycle riding in the territory and we are keen to work with riders and the association to do all we can to make riding a bike safer and more enjoyable.

I encourage members to visit mraact.org.au to learn about the association and the events happening this week.

Speech in the Legislative Assembly

20 October 2011

I rise this evening to say a few words about the National Library of Australia, which is one of the great national institutions found here in Canberra.

Recently I was pleased to attend the opening of the new Treasures Gallery, which is an exciting exhibition that hosts a number of items associated with Australia’s most interesting stories. The exhibition has been curated by Nat Williams, who has done a remarkable job in gathering so many fascinating items so central to our heritage and history. Drawn from the library’s vast collection, many of the treasures in this exhibition have never been displayed before. The library will continue to regularly change the items on display, ensuring that visitors will always discover something new.

I would like to note a few exhibits so visually presented at the gallery as part of the exhibition. These exhibits include items such as the torch from the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne; Elizabeth Macquarie’s earrings, made from gold found in Prospect in the Blue Mountains; the Endeavour journal from Captain James Cook; a list and description of HMS Bounty mutineers put together by William Bligh in 1789; and a very special piece of literature from 1796 being a playbill for a performance of Jane Shore, The Wapping Landlady and The Miraculous Cure at the Theatre in Sydney in 1796.

There are a number of Treasures Gallery supporters who have made this exhibition possible and I would like to acknowledge those people and those organisations: the principal Treasures Gallery partner, the Ian Potter Foundation; the platinum Treasures Gallery partners, the John T Reid Charitable Trust and the Sidney Myer Fund; the gold Treasures Gallery partners, ActewAGL, Dr James Bettison and Ms Helen James, Professor Henry Ergas, Harold Mitchell Foundation, Macquarie Group Foundation, Mr Kevin McCann AM, and the Thyne  Reid Foundation; the silver Treasures Gallery partner, Friends of the National Library of Australia; bronze Treasures Gallery partners, Mr James Bain AM and Mrs Janette Bain, Mr Victor Crittenden OAM, and Mr James Fairfax AC; Opal Treasures Gallery partners, F and J Ryan Foundation, Mr Philip Flood AO and Mrs Carole Flood, GHD Pty Ltd, and Dr Kenneth Moss AM and Mrs Glenn Moss; jade Treasures Gallery partners, Ms Cynthia Anderson, Dr Desmond Bright and Dr Ruth Bright AM, Mr Michael Heard and Mrs Mary Heard, Mr Robert Hill-Ling AO and Mrs Rosemary Hill-Ling OAM, Mrs Claudia Hyles, Mr Baillieu Myer AC and Mrs Sarah Myer, Miss Kay Rodda, Mrs Mary Louise Simpson, Mr John Uhrig AC and Mrs Shirley Uhrig, and another donor who has given anonymously at that level; and over 100 amber Treasures Gallery partners. Many of the individual library supporters have also contributed very generously through the donation boxes at the library.

The director-general of the Library is Ms Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, who was appointed on 9 February 2011. She does a great job and is supported by the following assistant directors: Pam Gatenby Margy Burn, Marie-Louise Ayres, Mark Corbould, Jasmine Cameron, and Gerry Linehan. The current Library Council is chaired by The Hon. James Spigelman, the deputy chair and executive member is Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, and other members are Jane Hemstritch, Brian Long, Kevin McCann, Deborah Thomas, Mary Kostakidis, Dr Nonja Peters, Senator Gary Humphries and the Hon Dick Adams MP.

The Friends of the National Library are an integral part of the library and the friends are advised by a committee of 16 members. Committee members range in background and experience and are all members of the friends. The committee is elected at the annual general meeting held by 30 November each year. Nominations are called for a month in advance and people who are interested can visit the National Library’s website.

The 2011 committee elected at the AGM held in December last year comprises Lynette Adams, Greg Cornwell AM, Anne Davis, Phillip Dean, Margo Geering, Alan Ives, Joan Kennedy, Gary Kent, Sylvia Marchant, Robyn Oates, Margaret Pender and Tim Walshaw. The committee is chaired by Joan Kennedy, the deputy chair is Gary Kent, the treasurer is Lynette Adams and the newsletter editor is Margaret Pender. I commend all those who volunteer their time to serve on the friends committee.

I also commend the staff and all the volunteers that make the National Library a truly great institution. I urge all Canberrans to consider joining the friends and to visit www.nla.gov.au for more information about the great work done at the National Library.