Page 467 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 4 March 2008
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MR SMYTH: The 769, Mr Gentleman confirms. It is not going to come to the Assembly anymore if Mr Hargreaves gets his way. I hope Mr Gentleman is having a word in Mr Hargreaves’s ear.
Mr Gentleman: I have sent him a letter.
MR SMYTH: You have? Mr Gentleman has joined the bus, so to speak, and has joined Mr Pratt and me in standing up for the users of the 768 and the 769 services. I congratulate you and I welcome that, Mr Gentleman. I hope Ms MacDonald does, too, in the short time that is left to her with us, because the 768 and the 769 are great services. But even greater is the spirit on the buses. These people actually want to do the right thing. They do not want to take their cars in; they want to help and they are being thwarted in those efforts by the government.
Lions Youth Haven
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (6.19): Last week I had the pleasure of representing the ACT government at an event that helped highlight the tremendous community spirit that thrives in the Tuggeranong region. The Lions Youth Haven recently received a community water grant from the federal government in the amount of $50,000. That was presented at their premises in Kambah by our federal member for Canberra, Annette Ellis.
This particular grant for the Lions Youth Haven will provide for a water tank that will save an estimated 850,000 litres per year and be used as irrigation for their community gardens. I think Mr Corbell will be pleased with that as well. Community gardens are just one part of an extensive and diverse program of community support.
The Lions Youth Haven has been operating for around 20 years and has been providing an exceptional and steady growth for welfare service to the ACT community for that time. Located on some 500 acres of land, the Lions Youth Haven has several houses, the aforementioned community gardens and cattle and horse-riding facilities. It has a school that many here will be familiar with, of course, the Galilee school that provides education for disadvantaged young people. It has a variety of support facilities to help those that need it most.
Unfortunately, disaster struck when, during the devastating bushfires of 2003, the Lion Youth Haven lost the majority of their facilities to provide those services. In fact, it was due to the assistance of the ACT government in rebuilding the Galilee school and other partner organisations investing time and money to help the Lions Youth Haven deal with such a disaster that they are now growing again from strength to strength. Partner organisations like Greening Australia and the Pegasus Riding School for the Disabled, combined with support from the ACT government and the federal government, allow essential community support groups to remain viable. But there is more that can be done, and that is why I am here today—to advocate.
As I mentioned, the Pegasus Riding School for the Disabled are looking to work with the Lions Youth Haven to utilise their facilities to provide a benefit for those
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