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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (5 September) . . Page.. 2882 ..
Road Transport (General) Act-Determination of concessions-Instrument No 284 of 2000 (No 35, dated 31 August 2000).
Miscellaneous paper
Electoral Amendment Bill 2000-Replacement explanatory memorandum.Motion (by Mr Humphries ) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
MR BERRY (3.31): Mr Speaker, I want to draw attention to something which was reported in the Senate Hansard of Monday, 4 September. Madam President drew attention to an officer of the Joint House Department, Mr Dwaine Joanknecht, winning the ACT Apprentice of the Year Award on 24 August. I would like to echo the congratulations which were offered to this hard-working officer for his efforts at Parliament House.
Madam President would have noted the irony of the specialty of this officer. He commenced an apprenticeship in turf management. There was some irony in the timing of her announcement and I think that a wily politician like Madam President would have noted the irony and would have been having a distinguished chuckle under her breath as she drew attention to the work of this young officer and congratulated him.
As a prize for his hard efforts, he earned a trip to the Millennium Turfgrass Conference in Melbourne. He also won the Turfgrass Association of Australia's turf graduate of the year award. I suspect that interest in reporting these matters had something to do with the fine condition of the lawns at Parliament House. I am sure that the cartoon in the Canberra Times would not have escaped the President's notice with its suggestion that some avaricious people in the ACT might have green eyes on the turf up there and might well have thieved it for other purposes.
I think Madam President was drawing attention to the fact that you get desirable turf by making sure that you have quality public employees engaged in a good apprenticeship system in the ACT looking after quality turf. It does make me wonder, knowing that you can see this grass from here, why somebody did not ring them up and say, "How do you get it to such a good condition? You don't happen to use paint up there, do you?" In congratulating this officer, I note the irony of the award.
Mr Speaker, the last time I spoke in the adjournment debate, I drew attention to a horse named Feel the Power, which I said had run stone motherless last in a race at Wyong. I was wrong; it was second last. I cannot remember the name of the horse that ran last, but if I was nominating one I think I would call it Bruce Stadium.
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