Page 3867 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2013
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across Australia. The participants started in Perth on Sunday. Then they went to Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart. Today is Sydney, and tomorrow is their run in Canberra, before heading to Brisbane for the final marathon on Saturday.
Canberra resident and owner of the Tuggeranong Kumon centre in Calwell, Jane Hiatt, is participating in this challenge. There are participants from each state and territory in Australia. However, my understanding is that Jane is the only ACT participant. Having raised around $12,000, Jane is inspirational. We have been watching Jane train for months to be able to achieve her goal and raise this money. She now “only” has two marathons to go. And I say “only” in inverted commas as I would be very hard pressed to do one marathon, let alone seven in seven days in a row.
Tomorrow, here in Canberra, the participants will begin at Queen Elizabeth Terrace, near Reconciliation Place, at 6 am and will do two laps of the lake past Yarralumla Bay, the zoo and aquarium and Black Mountain Peninsula. They will finish back at Queen Elizabeth Terrace around 11.30 am.
I speak on this topic today to encourage anyone who can to go down to a point on the track tomorrow morning and cheer on these inspiring runners or perhaps donate some money to their cause, hopefully through Jane Hiatt’s fundraising or get in and run a piece of the course with them to keep them company. So my congratulations to Jane Hiatt and her support team, including Pioneer Training and Anna Dakar. I know Jane is having trouble with bad blisters but I hope she can keep going for the last two marathons in the same positive manner she has shown so far.
Ms Celeste Italiano
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Children and Young People, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Women, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Racing and Gaming) (5.01): On behalf of this side, I wish Jane well for tomorrow and the next two events. Well done to Jane.
I would like to take a minute, on behalf of this side of the chamber, to say farewell to Celeste. On behalf of the government, I want to thank you for your time in this place and for supporting all of us with a level of dignity and a straight face, which I think must be difficult at times—I think we would all agree—in this place. I do want to thank you.
I think Alistair has touched on the preparation of papers. If there is one thing in a busy and chaotic place it is that we always have faith in the reliability of the paperwork that is here to support us. Celeste, thank you for that.
Indeed, there is the other work that the Speaker has touched on—the conferences and that incredible number of questions on notice. Any time the opposition want to reduce the workload of whoever does it I would encourage you all to consider the secretariat’s support for those questions on notice and reduce them. I think that could be wishful thinking.
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