Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (30 March) . . Page.. 1142 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

Every time he thinks of Canberra and Nara there are so many commonalities that reinforce what a good sister city relationship it is. I have to say Mr Speaker, that I could not agree more.

He asked that his best wishes be extended to the ACT Government and indeed the entire Legislative Assembly.

MS CARNELL (Chief Minister) (3.17): Mr Speaker, I ask for the leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the Canberra National Multicultural Festival 2000.

Leave granted.

MS CARNELL: I am pleased to provide the Assembly with a brief overview of the highly successful Canberra National Multicultural Festival, which was held from 4 March to 20 March this year. I am advised that this year the festival attracted an estimated 300,000-plus attendance at all events by both Canberrans and interstate visitors. They enjoyed a multitude of performances, events and exhibitions with a strong international flavour, whilst celebrating the cultural diversity of the national capital. It was the second year of the festival, after the merger of the former Canberra Festival and the Multicultural Festival, and the first time that it was under the auspices of the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation.

The merger and the new management structure resulted in a range of efficiencies, including a more effective approach to sourcing additional sponsorship dollars, better allocation of scarce resources and greater synergies in the marketing and promotion of the event. That was evident in what was, by all accounts, a highly successful community-based event for Canberra.

The 2000 festival successfully reflected Canberra's rich cultural diversity without deviating from the festival's other focus, the celebration of Canberra's birthday. The program mirrored these twin aims by the skilful combination of an exciting array of international events with the traditionally popular events that Canberrans enjoy. This year's festival featured some 90 events by local and interstate artists, as well as performances, exhibitions and concerts by artists from countries such as Israel, Iran, the Philippines, Romania, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka and Belgium, to name just a few.

Canberrans are known to have the highest level of participation in cultural activity such as attendance at cultural venues. It is of paramount importance, therefore, that the festival demonstrate the ability to cater primarily to a discerning local community. Indeed, community expectations have been met, if attendances are anything to go by.

I would like to take this opportunity to mention some of the major success stories of the festival. The festival parade was a great success, attracting an estimated 21,000 people, 5,000 more than last year, with 82 participants compared with 40 last year. Skyfire, with

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .