Page 628 - Week 02 - Thursday, 24 March 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
away with that—where members of the community can work on repairing various things that other members of the community bring to them for assistance with repairs.
It includes tool sharpening, and repairing bicycles, fabrics, clothes, furniture and electrical goods. It was delightful to see two separate workstations for outdoor tools and furniture, and licensed practitioners working on electrical repairs inside the Hawker softball centre facility.
It is wonderful to see these community organisations coming back out again after the COVID lockdowns. It is such an important enhancement to the Ginninderra community and, I am sure, to all the communities represented by members of this place.
Not very far away, again at the softball centre, is the Hawker Men’s Shed. Congratulations on the work done there, particularly by coordinator Jon Wells. They have been able to acquire several new work areas, being old shipping containers, and a growing catalogue of tools and equipment.
It is wonderful to see these community organisations at work and being available. These volunteers give up their own time. I look forward to the future success of both these initiatives and to supporting them in every way I can, as their local MLA.
Environment—Watson micro-forest
MS VASSAROTTI (Kurrajong—Minister for the Environment, Minister for Heritage, Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services and Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction) (4.14): Last Sunday was World Rewilding Day, and I was pleased to launch the Watson micro-forest, which has been supported by funding from an ACT environment grant and at a federal level, as well as receiving an impressive amount of community-generated crowdfunding.
As I said on Sunday, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and despondent in the face of the reality of climate change. The enormity of the problem can paralyse us and lead us to think that it is not worth doing anything. However, one of the cornerstones of the environmental movement provides another pathway. To think globally and act locally enables us to take control and to convert feelings of hopelessness into hope.
The powerful words of Rebecca Solnit come to mind from her book Hope in the Dark. She reminds us:
Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth’s treasures, and the grinding down of the poor and marginal … To hope is to give yourself to the future—and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.
I really saw this in action on Sunday, both in the group of people gathered to celebrate the launch after so much hard work, planning and shared vision, and in the promise contained within the micro-forest plan itself. When hope shoves us out the door, it
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video