Page 1166 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I will speak quickly to paragraph (3) of Mr Gentleman’s motion, which commends the efforts of all of those involved in delivering the centenary celebrations. There are too many, and I am not even going to begin to attempt to name them, but it has been an enormous effort right across the community, whether it is the paid staff in the centenary team who have put in an enormous effort or whether it is the many volunteers, both the formal centenary volunteers or those who have just jumped in and helped out with an event or two. So many people in the community have been actively involved in the centenary, and I hope that continues through the rest of year. Whilst March may be the peak of the events, there is a great deal still to come, and I am certainly looking forward to the festivities for the rest of the year.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Health and Minister for Higher Education) (5.11): As Mr Gentleman pointed out, it has been a very successful start to the centenary of Canberra, and the Canberra birthday weekend was huge. I thank other members and acknowledge their support for those events. It really was fantastic so see so many Canberrans heed our call to stay in town for our big birthday long weekend, a weekend that traditionally has seen a significant exodus to the South Coast.
The centenary transformed our lake into party central, on and off the water. It was an amazing day, and we have had lots of feedback from locals that the 100th birthday celebrations reminded them of what a great city this is. I will quote some feedback we got via an email from David Purnell OAM from Florey:
Congratulations on an excellent weekend of activities. The participation level indicated how much the events appealed, and the creativity that went into the planning was great.
We heard from locals that they were proud to bring along their relatives and friends from interstate and overseas. Again, some feedback from John Rodriguez from Florey:
It has taken 100 years but we have finally seen the lake bursting to the seams with all sorts of people, families, children, seniors and a veritable rainbow of multicultural faces.
People on bikes, roller skaters, tricycles, wheelchairs, running, walking and even being dragged by their loved dogs.
And everybody seemed to be having a great time, I just hope we don’t have to wait another 100 years to see people enjoying the sheer pleasure of being there.
Through the centenary of Canberra program, this year will be one that will continue to demonstrate that Canberra is home to locals that love it. Last week, as part of the centenary of Canberra, my ministerial colleague Joy Burch announced the top 100 things that the people of Canberra like about their city. That project, on its own, has been the most amazing success in terms of engagement with the community. More than 11,000 people voted in the final poll, which showed that Canberrans like
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video