Page 1477 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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people that violence against women, even though it is endemic, is not appropriate—nor is violence against anybody else.
We have some examples in the Pacific. We have the theatre group called One Small Bag that operates out of Vanuatu and now has a much broader role in places like the Solomon Islands. That is based on theatre. It started off with expatriates but it also involves some local people. It develops plays and scenarios based on the issues that are relevant to those people.
One of our own community, Robin Davidson, whom some people might know as someone who is involved in community theatre, spent some time in East Timor at the end of last year. He was working there with NGOs on using theatre as a way of—we might call it education but that is too formal a word—helping people learn their human rights, health needs and other things that we might recognise they need but perhaps they do not ask for. His comment in a presentation that he gave to a group of people at CMAG last year was that the main thing that characterises the young people of East Timor is boredom; there is nothing to do. They have come from a culture of violence and oppression. When that oppression is removed, people hoped things would get better very soon. They have not, as they do not. I might say that the oil deal that Australia has just wrought with East Timor is not in favour of the East Timorese people.
What happens, then, is that NGOs are using theatre as a way of educating and raising awareness in East Timor. Once the word gets around—and it is word of mouth, since most people are illiterate—many, many people gather, whole villages gather, on hillsides to watch and be involved in theatre which is based on their issues and their needs. I commend this as a way that the Canberra community can work to improve the awareness and the education of people, and not just rely on the formal relationships between schools. As I mentioned, that only touches a tiny proportion of the community.
I reiterate a call I made last year for the ACT minister for tourism to visit East Timor, to investigate and promote relationships with Dili. There may be ways that we can facilitate visits between our two cities and actively seek to identify and foster appropriate business, educational, social, agricultural and health links. Of course we must thank the Canberra Friends of Dili, which was set up in about 2001 and which is very active. In fact, Kerrie Tucker worked with them to encourage the government to set up the friendship city relationship.
In closing, I suggest that perhaps some of the empty desks in ACT schools can be sent to East Timor. My tongue was in my cheek as I said that.
MR STEFANIAK (Ginninderra) (3.51): I start with Dr Foskey’s last point. I certainly commend that to the government, if they are not doing it. I remember, as education minister, having the pleasure of sending, courtesy of a lot of our local schools, equipment to East Timor. I am not quite sure whether they were empty desks; they might have been, Dr Foskey. They needed everything.
It is a timely motion. It is timely because East Timor is a recent independent country whose relationship with Australia goes back many years. Those of us with an interest in history, and military history especially, will remember the fantastic support, at great risk to themselves—about 100,000 East Timorese died during the Japanese occupation—they
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