Page 4590 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 18 October 2011

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Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill, as a whole, agreed to.

Adjournment

Motion (by Mr Corbell) proposed:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Canberra Southern Cross Club chefs award

MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (5.52): Last evening my wife Robyn and I had the great pleasure to attend the 25th anniversary, and unfortunately the final year, of the Canberra Southern Cross Club graduate cooks award. It is a marvellous night. As the title says, it has been running for 25 years. What it does is to give graduate chefs in the city an opportunity to compete with each other for some fabulous prizes and also to get some very valuable mentoring from some of the great chefs not just of Australia but of the world.

I would like to thank all of those that have had a part in this over the last 25 years. It was started by Michael Foster and Peter Head of the Southern Cross Club in 1986. Indeed, the first winner that year was a young fellow called Gordon Hunt. I am quite curious that Gordon Hunt, 25 years later, works at the Southern Cross Club and is their executive chef. He did not move very far from the nest, as it were.

But it is a fabulous award. It is unfortunate that it is not going to go ahead. It has always been a cooperation with the Canberra Institute of Technology and it has been sponsored mainly by the Southern Cross Club. It seems that it has reached a point in its life where it is just getting a bit difficult to put on. There is a lot of conflict in the courses that the students undertake.

Of course, finding time for them to compete when they are trying to earn a living is also very difficult. If the minister for education who, of course, has an interest in economic development is listening, there might be a way that we could discuss how we can get this to continue past the 25th anniversary dinner.

One of the interesting functions or features of the award is the sponsors. It has some very long-term sponsors. One, of course, is the Canberra Southern Cross Club. The other, of course, is Peter Lehmann Wines. They have been sponsoring the event from day one. It is probably one of the longest wine sponsorships for any event in the country. On behalf of those that have participated and those that have enjoyed it, I would particularly like to thank Peter Lehmann and his company for what they did.

The other sponsors last night were Farm Fresh Fruit Market, Andrews Meat Industries and Game Farm. The major sponsors were Peter Lehmann, ActewAGL, Bidvest, AC&R Canberra, the Bathers’ Pavilion, Canberra Coffee Company, Canberra Institute of Technology, the Australian Culinary Federation, Andrews Meat Industries,


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