Page 4671 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 19 October 2010
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members included the minister, Katy Gallagher; Alistair Coe; Mary Porter; Meredith Hunter; Vicki Dunne; Shane Rattenbury; and me. I particularly acknowledge the minister’s role and her office’s role in organising and putting on the event and welcoming other members of the Assembly at what was a tripartisan event. I think it was a very good opportunity for a community organisation and the public to see members from the various parties shoulder to shoulder working together for a good cause.
A number of media personalities also attended, including Ross Solly, Michael Milton, Tim Gavel and Lachlan Kennedy. Well done to them. They are the sort of people that go to many events. They sacrifice a lot of their time supporting community organisations such as this.
The minister, Mary Porter, Amanda Bresnan and I also attended the relaunch of the Prostate Cancer Support Group website earlier in September. I am sure that all members of the Assembly would join with me in offering our thanks and support to the group for the important work that they do in helping men with prostate cancer and increasing the awareness of this disease in our community and the need for timely check-ups. Mr Speaker, you might be a bit young, but I am sure that you are aware that you are getting closer, as am I. Well done to the president, Peter Daley, and to all members of the group, including John Hayhoe, Malcolm Whyte, Steve Sweet, Dennis Armstrong, Mike Boesen and Jim Clough.
I would also like to congratulate the Rotary Club of Weston Creek on the recent success of their book fair that they held at the Weston Creek community centre last Friday and Saturday. The book fair sold thousands of second-hand books that they had collected. The club put in a monumental effort in collecting the books in the first place, sorting them and transporting them and then selling the books. I would also like to acknowledge the Islamic school who offered space to the Rotary Club of Weston Creek to store the books in. There were piles and piles of them. All the moneys raised will be going to Camp Quality and to local Rotary projects. I commend the president, Janice Paull, all the members of the club and the other volunteers who attended to make the event such a success.
In the time remaining, I would also like to acknowledge the work of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in walk for a cure 2010. The organisation conducts this event every year. It is to raise money for research and to support people, particularly children, who have this insidious disease—juvenile diabetes, which is type 1 diabetes. I think that there is a real distinction between type 1 and type 2 that is often not understood in our community. Type 1 is a disease that affects often children and does not have a cure. People get it not because they are overweight or through lifestyle habits but simply for no other reason than, I guess, they lost the lottery.
It was great to see so many Canberrans out supporting this cause and walking to raise money—children like Cassie, a very brave little six-year-old girl, who has diabetes. It was also good to see my colleague Brendan Smyth at the event. I would like to put it on the record that Brendan Smyth can walk very fast. I have a body geared, I think, for jogging. He has a body that is geared for walking, and he certainly set the pace. He attends every year, and he should be congratulated on doing so.
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