Page 1371 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2006
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away to the sounds of Latin American music. Eurotrash 2006 drew 6,000 individuals to Garema Place to hear an eclectic mix of music.
Other standouts included the Pakistani Cultural Expo, which attracted 1,500 people, and Botswanian Baskets, which attracted 2,000 people, both at the new Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre. The festival’s own comedy spectacular, Show us your roots, at the Canberra Theatre attracted more than 1,100 people. It was full.
Whilst the attendance figures for the larger events ran into the thousands, many of the smaller, more intimately staged events also attracted attendances in the hundreds. At Mozart Magic at the ANU Arts Centre Theatre, 340 people enjoyed renditions of the great composer’s work, whilst the Beijing Modern Dance Company’s spectacular performance of Beijing Vision, staged at the Canberra Theatre, played to a sold-out crowd of 660 people.
There was a lot of fun to be had by all those attending the festival, with 85 per cent saying that they will return next year. The organisers of individual events were also very satisfied with the proceedings. One hundred per cent of those individual organisers involved in the 2006 festival said that they would participate in the 2007 event, and 100 per cent of them also said that they would recommend the event to their colleagues and other event organisers and encourage them to participate. I have no doubt that word of mouth is inflaming the popularity of this event.
These figures show the fantastic level of support that there is in the Canberra community and by individuals from across our border for our multicultural way of life. With more than 165,000 attendees this year, we have an event that we can be proud of and promote to the rest of Australia. Each year we must continue to expand and promote the premier celebration of our cultural diversity. It may not be a permanent physical structure or a regular weekly event, but it is a showcasing of the more than 200 diverse communities that comprise our city. It is an event each year to look forward to and cherish. Planning has already started for next year’s festival and interest is very high.
Budget—election promises
MRS BURKE: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Chief Minister. Chief Minister, on 15 November 2005 Mr Smyth asked whether your government would abandon any of the election promises that were made by the Labor Party in 2004 and which remain outstanding. You replied that no promise would be abandoned. Chief Minister, following the findings contained in the Costello report on the functional review of the ACT budget, how can you sustain your previous position that you will fund all of the 72 outstanding election promises made by the Labor Party in 2004?
MR STANHOPE: The question is: how can I sustain my previous position on this in light of Mr Costello’s report? Well I can and I do. How long is this piece of string? We have a report that contains a rigorous analysis of a whole range of issues in relation to governance within the territory. Of course, the report is focused very much around governance and the strategic direction of government service delivery.
There are a few things that can be said and need to be said—this is constantly conveniently forgotten—in relation to some of the hysteria which has been whipped up
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