Page 1265 - Week 04 - Thursday, 4 May 2006
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Attorney-General look into that, ensure that it is fixed up as soon as possible, and rectify this longstanding problem of a lease for motor sport at Fairbairn Park.
The motor sport community, rightly, are concerned about this matter. They feel somewhat aggrieved at present with the loss of the V8s and, of course, the ongoing saga of the dragway. I think that the very least the current government could do would be to honour the work Ted Quinlan did in terms of assisting them with this lease, which to all intents and purposes was hot to trot, ready to go, but for some inexplicable reason that no one is telling them about it has been held up for 12 months by the bureaucracy. So, if the new minister could sort that out, that would be excellent.
Healthpact
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (6.13): I rise this afternoon to congratulate ACT Health, the ACT government and the Healthpact board on the 10th anniversary of Healthpact and its programs of support for the ACT community. The Healthpact board is an eclectic bunch of people. It is made up of nine people whose appointments are based on their expertise in the areas of community, health, sports, arts, business, employee relations, communications and environmental health.
The Healthpact board oversees the important work of Healthpact, which provides funds to community, health, arts and sports organisations for capacity building and health promotion activities, and field development in these areas of training for the community, as well as research and evaluation programs. Healthpact has worked hard for 10 years to achieve its vision of a healthy, vital, sustainable ACT community through these three major areas of activity.
There is no greater example of the fantastic work done with Healthpact funding than that of the Tuggeranong Arts Centre in its formation of the Out of the Shower, On with the Show! choir. The program for that got a kickstart with Healthpact seed funding. Seed funding is a specific Healthpact grant that seeks to encourage organisations, to quote a Healthpact publication, “to take a great idea and put it into action”. The funds allow organisations to pursue untested approaches or work on emerging trends in order to promote a healthier Canberra community. That was precisely the work undertaken by the Tuggeranong Arts Centre in August 2004 with its program to encourage community participation and to reduce social remoteness amongst older members of our society.
The TAC formed the Out of the Shower, On with the Show! choir in response to the changing demographic in the Tuggeranong Valley. It seems that we in the valley are getting older in the tooth, but we do not want to take up dancing with the youthful Funk Fresh troupe, which is itself the result of a fine TAC program. It was Healthpact funding that meant that this bright idea became a reality and it is from these little things that big things grow. The OOTS choir, to give the short name for it, is now an ongoing part of the TAC program. Two years after its formation it is still continuing with its public performances and there have been hints of a broader schedule, including younger singers, for the Tuggeranong community.
The choir and the work done by its coordinators have been rightly recognised. Last year, only one year after its formation, the OOTS choir received the community contribution award in the adult learners week awards. The Tuggeranong Arts Centre also has been
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