Page 3145 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
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Adjournment
Motion by Mr Corbell proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
At home with books program
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (2.01 am): Yesterday evening, Ms Burch spoke about the IMB Community Foundation awards and listed all the local recipients, and I congratulate those recipients as well. One of the programs that was funded by the IMB foundation has really taken my eye. I encourage members to take notice of that program—I commend it to the minister for children and family services as well—and it is the at home with books program run by Marymead. At home with books is a program to encourage the language and literacy development of children in out-of-home care as well as children in vulnerable circumstances.
Marymead has created a system whereby each month the children clients of Marymead receive a new book as a gift. The children receive this book and they are able to write their name in it and they are able to keep it forever. Each book is specially stamped with the name of the child and it is their book forever. The child gets an opportunity to choose the book themselves from Marymead’s friendly book room. At home with books encourages parents and foster carers to read to and with children. It also provides workshops and newsletters to promote books.
I would encourage members in this place, seeing it is coming to the end of the financial year and it might be time for people to donate to charities, to consider at home with books, which relies entirely on donations to provide new books to children who are very vulnerable in the Canberra community. I commend Marymead for this outstanding program and I commend it to members of the Assembly.
World Refugee Day
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (2.04 am): There were some serious issues that I thought I might report to the Assembly on. Last week was World Refugee Week—
Government members interjecting—
MR DOSZPOT: Labor members are exhibiting about as much respect for that as they did by not attending most of the functions. Saturday, 20 June was World Refugee Day. I attended three functions on Saturday that celebrated World Refugee Day.
The first one I attended was a luncheon at Kashmir House, at the invitation of Forum Australia and its patron, Mr Mohammed Ali, to hear a number of speakers address the topic “Pakistan facing challenges: the way ahead”. The main speaker was the High Commissioner of Pakistan, His Excellency Jalil Abbas Jilani. During the course of the lunch, there was mention of Pakistan’s major problem at the moment: internal displacement of Swat civilians, which is the biggest exodus after the Rwanda crisis in 1994.
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