Page 4595 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 18 October 2011

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blown away by how hard the children had worked throughout the storytelling competition. Their story was a reflection of the help they gave earlier to victims of the Queensland floods, the bushfires across Australia and the earthquake in Japan.

The second-placed team were St Thomas the Apostle primary school. They were the runners-up, after some great work by students of year 5. The teachers were Megan Barons and Amy Doszpot, and a parent Tricia Scollen-Smith, while the principal was Mr David Thiele. (Time expired.)

MusicACT

MR COE (Ginninderra) (6.10): On 12 October last week I was pleased to attend the launch of MusicACT, an organisation whose aim is the promotion and advocacy of music in the ACT. According to their website, the goal of this new peak body for the music industry in the ACT is to advocate and promote Canberra’s music culture. MusicACT provides access to all aspects of the music industry, including legal advice, assistance to launch outside of the ACT or advance a music-related concept as well as political advocacy.

MusicACT, initially called the ACT Live Music Association, formed in the face of a number of government reviews, including the review of arts in the ACT, the interdepartmental committee on barriers to live music, live music stakeholder forum facilitated by Arts ACT as well as the Legislative Assembly review into live music in the ACT undertaken by the planning, public works and territory and municipal services committee.

Prior to the formation of this board, the ACT was the only jurisdiction in Australia without a peak body for music and representation from the Australian music industry network. MusicACT will now fill this void. The board is seeking a broad membership, which will hopefully include musicians, DJs, producers, venues, music label organisations, educators, retailers, businesses and professionals.

Music for the launch event was, of course, provided by homegrown musicians—the Goji Berry Jam fusion band, which comprised local jazz musicians and electronic producers, as well as local funk pop rock trio, Fun Machine.

The president of MusicACT is Gil Miller, who is well known to Canberra as a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and who is also on the board of the ACT branch of the AHA. Gil has gathered likeminded individuals with a personal interest in the future of music in the ACT—they include Peter Bayliss, Julia Winterflood, David Caffery, Jacq Rolfe and Sari Nurmi—as fellow MusicACT board members. I look forward to supporting the organisation in the future in their pursuit of promoting the ACT music industry.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

The Assembly adjourned at 6.13 pm.


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