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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 5200 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

good news stories. If you are going to steal a good news story, Mr Stanhope, I have just a word for the wise: Glenloch Interchange and Glenloch Station are not spelt with a "k"; they are spelt with an "h". If you are going to be a good member for Ginninderra, you need to know about the historic homesteads in your electorate.

On to a happier note, Mr Speaker, last night I talked about volunteering and the contribution made to people with disabilities by services such as Sailability. Another organisation that provides fantastic service to people with disabilities is Radio for the Print Handicapped, which turns print into sound at 1125 on the AM dial. Through this service the blind, the visually impaired and others who cannot receive or access newspapers, magazines or printed material of any other sort have access to information about what is happening in their community and the wider world.

As members might know, Radio for the Print Handicapped allows me the privilege of presenting their Saturday morning paper reading service once a month. I was also fortunate enough to attend, albeit briefly, their Christmas function last Saturday night. I was there to add my expressions of gratitude to John Coleman and I would like to do so here as well. John Coleman is retiring as the manager of Radio 1RPH. He has been in a paid position, but it was theoretically part time and I suspect that the organisation got more than three times the hours out of John that he was paid for. John of the golden tonsils came seven years ago for three months to fill a gap. It is nice to know that Radio 1RPH is not losing John; he will be remaining as a volunteer.

While I am on the subject of Radio 1RPH, I want to pay tribute to the remarkable Altamores, Robert and Wendy. Robert is the current president of Radio 1RPH, but his community involvement does not end there. Everywhere you go round town you meet Robert. In the last week, I have met Robert and Wendy at the Inclusions Award, at the 1RPH dinner, and at the reception last night for Jose Ramos-Horta.

Robert and Wendy are passionately involved in services for the disabled, particularly the vision impaired. They are also passionate friends of East Timor and when they are not involved in that they are busy organising this year's charity Christmas lunch. Last year's was a huge success and this one will be bigger and better, I expect. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this year as I will be away from home on Christmas day, but I recommend the event as a means of upholding the true spirit of Christmas and I congratulate Robert and Wendy Altamore on their heroic service to the community.

Callisthenics championships

East Timor

Government services in suburban Canberra

MR STEFANIAK (11.16): I would like to commend Callisthenics ACT Inc on some excellent results. Recently, our teams participated in the national championships in Perth. The ACT was represented by teams in the junior and intermediate age divisions and achieved the best ever results with two closed division aggregate wins. The junior team achieved a fourth place in two items and the intermediate team achieved a third place in two items in the open division competition, the first time the intermediate age group has been placed in the top three in the open division. The feedback from the other states was about how well the girls from the ACT performed.

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