Page 3541 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 15 November 2006
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MR BERRY (Ginninderra) (4.00): On occasion politicians join in full song about the area that they represent. One such occasion is the 40th birthday of Belconnen. I see Belconnen as a large part of a very important city to me, the city of Canberra. Its development, of course, parallels development in all other places in this great city.
I think it is important to acknowledge, though, that the community in Belconnen have gathered together on a number of occasions to stand up for their rights on some issues. A recent issue, of course, is the schools debate, which has been referred to by the Chief Minister and Mrs Dunne. That is an important feature of a city or part of a city developing a heart of its own, and it gives some stress to us as representatives on how we deal with a community organised, as it is, around political issues such as schools. I do not want to talk too much about that issue, merely, though, to draw attention to the fact that the community in Belconnen is well established and is becoming more and more organised by the year, as are other communities in Canberra as this great city grows and matures.
When I came here in 1972, I was approaching 40. It is a few years since then and I am approaching another age. I will be 65 next year. Part of being in a community is watching the people of the community develop and join with each other, as with all other people in this city, as their children are born and move to other parts of the city or even to other parts of Australia. The strength of our great city has matured as it has developed its heart and history.
I came here as a youngish, hairy-chested firefighter. I was first stationed at the Ainslie fire station. We went into the government house that is now my house, which was stretched to accommodate my growing family. One of the first duties I had at the Ainslie fire station was what they used to call an out duty, and I was sent to Belconnen fire station. When I arrived there, there were was this brand spanking new building with a brand spanking new fire engine in it. All that was in the Belconnen town centre was the fire station. I could not believe that I was in a city where there was this huge paddock, beyond which you could not see anything except the fire station. There were some works going on around the place.
I was very proud to be part of the fire service. I was able to assist the community in many ways, join with the community on some things and, regrettably, share the tragedies of the community as time went by. Those things will always remain with me, but those years, too, were part of an enjoyable period of growing with the community. I was an activist union official. Many of my members lived in Belconnen and other suburbs.
It has been a matter of interest for me to go to a suburb that was effectively a greenfields suburb that really at first did not have much charm about it, and now to see the changing traffic past my house as the city matures. More and more grandparents walk past with their children. When I first moved there you never saw grandparents walking by. It was mostly young people with babies on bicycles and those sorts of things. My and my wife’s offspring have been educated and essentially reared in Belconnen, so it has been an important part of the life of my family.
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