Page 4018 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 12 December 2006
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
briefly about three events I have had the pleasure of attending since the Assembly last sat. The first is the SpringOut festival. SpringOut is a month-long festival that celebrates the pride, joy, dignity and identity of Canberra’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. The festival aims to showcase and support the talents and creativity of Canberra’s gay and lesbian community and provide a focus for community events and participation. It also provides a platform for local gay and lesbian people to celebrate their identity and to make contact with other gay and lesbian people and their friends and supporters in Canberra. SpringOut is an inclusive and positive contribution to Canberra’s sense of community and its celebration of diversity.
On Thursday, 30 November, the Canberra gay and lesbian community turned out in force for the Canberra Pride award ceremony and the closing night of the BentFest film festival and the SpringOut festival itself. At this event, I had the great pleasure of presenting the 2006 Canberra Pride awards. Four very deserving Canberrans received awards for their work for the Canberra queer community. I would like to again extend my congratulations to Leanne Linmore for her years as musical director of the Canberra Gay and Lesbian Qwire; to Mr John Guppy, the outgoing president of the AIDS Action Council of the ACT and the founder of the Spring Lit queer literature festival; Robert Henderson for his many years of contribution to the AIDS action council, the Canberra Gay and Lesbian Qwire, the Meridian Club and the Canberra Pride Group; and Kelly Mullen and the Purple Party Committee, the team that deliver the highly successful annual Women’s Purple Party. It was another great SpringOut festival in 2006 and I extend my congratulations to the Canberra Pride Group for their efforts in organising the event.
On 3 December, I had the opportunity to attend the 2006 CIT FashionACT Tantrum graduating fashion parade for 14 fashion designers who were graduating from the bachelor of design fashion degree course. It was Canberra’s largest and most exciting collaborative fashion event. The parade was the final product of three years of dedicated work by students from Canberra and students from across Australia who decided to make Canberra their place of study and to make the world of fashion their own.
It was a dynamic performance by all of the designers and their models on the night. Nearly 700 people were in attendance at the National Museum of Australia, which has formed a fantastic partnership with the CIT to host the event. I am sure many members of the Assembly will be pleased to know that, with such fantastic designers emerging from the CIT, collectively our sartorial elegance will surely improve if we are able to get into some of the wonderful outfits that were on display that night.
Finally, I had the opportunity to participate in the DLA Phillips Fox government and business triathlon on Sunday morning. This triathlon is largely a social event, but one that seeks to promote fun and fitness. It is a bit of friendly competition between government departments and the private sector. Nearly 700 people participated, all supporting a worthy cause, Diabetes Australia—ACT. The event was largely put together by the Triathlon ACT team. I would like to pay tribute to Monica Lindemann, Debbie Styman and Suzanne Davies of Triathlon ACT, and also to Anthony Willis of DLA Phillips Fox for his involvement in putting together this event.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .