Page 2209 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 22 June 2010
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very well organised and well-attended event; I commend Laurel Davies and Romina, who organised the event, and all those people that participated and contributed to the singers. I do not think they got value for money, but I thank all of those people that sponsored me. I have thanked them personally and I take this opportunity again to thank them very much for their support. And I commend the other contestants for what they are doing. James Blundell was the only genuine celebrity that turned up; and he did not win—who would have thought it?—in the singing bee.
I recently attended a Podmore Foundation event, and I note that Mary Porter and her partner were there. It is a very worthy charity, founded by a group of ex-RMC graduates. The focus of the charity is to provide money and to return opportunity. They give principally an amount of money to Yalari, which is a charity aimed at young Indigenous people, to provide them with an education. It finds young Indigenous people who are seeking opportunity where they can be sponsored to attend a school which otherwise they would not be able to attend. It gives them that opportunity. It is a fantastic event, and I had the privilege of sitting with Mick Dodson that night.
I move to the Red Shield Salvation Army doorknock appeal on 30 May. I thank Captain Jennifer Wheatley for getting me and Mr Coe out in the rain to go and knock on a few doors in Kingston. It is fair to say that some people were not as happy to see us knocking on their door on a Sunday morning as they were to see Natalie Forrest from Prime news. I commend her and her sister. They were out knocking on doors, and most people were probably more encouraged to open their door to a couple of very attractive blondes than they were to open them to me and Mr Coe. Nonetheless, we soldiered on and we did raise some money for a very worthy cause. I thank the Salvation Army for the opportunity to participate in that event.
On 15 June, I attended the Vietnam Veterans and Veterans Federation facility in Page at one of their Tuesday ladies functions. I was very lucky to attend that one, because that is the day that the ladies come and cook lunch, and it was splendid fare. I got an opportunity to meet a lot of the guys out there. They provide a facility where veterans from all conflicts, but principally the Vietnam conflict, can get together, meet and have some comradeship. They look after the guys and they make sure that they are supporting them through DVA claims or just helping them with any problems that they might have—just providing some mateship. That is a very important part of our community.
It is a sort of men’s shed concept; they have got two sheds there, one for woodwork and one for metalwork. It is working very successfully. Most of it was self-help, but some money has been provided by the ACT government and some by DVA and the federal government through other schemes. But principally it is about a bunch of guys who have got together and made something work. They are looking after each other, and that is a great opportunity. I thank the president and all members of the Vietnam Veterans and Veterans Federation.
CEO sleep-out
World Refugee Day
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for
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