Page 1453 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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It is this aim—making the friendship agreement a Canberra community action—that drives the Canberra Friends of Dili. The students were given real insight by CFD coordinator Bruce Sinclair about the financial support needed by Dili families. This gave a great platform for the myriad ideas of concrete and immediate support these students could provide for Dili schools and students, most focusing on fundraising activities. These activities form the basis of real action plans and I am very confident that, given the support these students receive from their teachers and principals, we can rest assured that some vigorous fundraising will be taking place in the near future.
Also coming out of Friday’s meeting were plans to coordinate a visit to Dili by consortium principals later in the year. This will allow a face-to-face exchange of ideas that can only strengthen the friendship schools program. The consortium is a true amalgam of groups and individuals who have at their core a genuine concern for the people of East Timor and a desire to see this new nation succeed.
One such group is the Australian Education Union. The AEU has been an integral part of educational assistance for Dili. The consortium is just one of the many programs that the AEU has been involved in over the years, and a special mention must go to Tim McNevin from the union for his long-time support of the East Timorese people, from their struggle for independence to their rebuilding. The AEU has made a commitment to support Dili teachers in visiting Canberra in the future. Congratulations to Tim and the AEU for their continuing contribution to this cause. It warms my heart to hear again and again how the union movement continues to support those less fortunate—not just in our society but across the oceans—in the workplace and in the community.
I am very proud to support this important initiative. I strongly believe that this program deserves our unanimous congratulations. Education assistance is a two-way street in this program. Indeed, Australians and Tuggeranong students will look upon East Timor’s endurance and courage and its devotion to the right to live freely in peace. Similarly, support and congratulations are deserved by the Canberra Institute of Technology for its work with the Dili Institute of Technology.
Discussions have taken place with the AEU for CIT students to become involved in the Australian youth ambassadors for development project occurring in schools in Timor-Leste. CIT was approached to encourage students to become youth ambassadors, particularly in the area of sport and physical education. In relation to the Dili Institute of Technology, DIT, there are significant governance issues impacting on this arrangement, including that DIT is not recognised as a public institution. The CIT in Canberra has encouraged DIT to progress the recognition of the tech as a public institution, to enable public funding.
In correspondence in December 2005, the Director of CIT, Dr Peter Veenker, whom I talked about yesterday afternoon, strongly urged the Director of the Dili Institute of Technology, Dr Joao Freitas, to apply for recognition of the institute as a public organisation from the East Timor government. It was pointed out that this would significantly enhance the ability of CIT to provide support, and will also render DIT eligible for additional sources of Australian and international aid. At the same time,
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