Page 338 - Week 01 - Thursday, 17 February 2011
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Canberra Grammar School
Cerebral Palsy Alliance
Canberra Girls Grammar School
The Adventurers
The Dinner Party
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (5.09): This week was quite a busy week; last week was even busier. On Tuesday, 8 February I had the pleasure of attending the Canberra Grammar School’s commissioning of its new principal, Dr Justin Garrick. He was installed as head of the Canberra Grammar School in a very inspiring ceremony, conducted by the Rt Reverend Stuart Robinson, Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn. Other members of the school community who took part in the ceremony included Mrs Jane L’Estrange; Mr Vincent Attanasio; Mr Mark Baker, the chairman of the board; and the director of music, Craig Woodland. The chaplain of the school also participated, the Reverend Christopher Welsh.
From there, in my capacity as shadow minister for disability, I attended the media launch to celebrate the Spastic Centre’s name change to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. I congratulate Geraldine Walters and the board of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance on the success of the name change and the powerful television campaign that highlights, through the experience of families, the realities of cerebral palsy and the urgent requirement to fund continuing research programs. Every 15 hours an Australian child is born with cerebral palsy. The organisation is appealing for donations, which can be made by phoning 1300 136 140 or on their website, www.CerebralPalsy.org.au.
On Thursday, 10 February I was invited to another one of our independent schools, Canberra Girls Grammar School, to take part in the commissioning of their principal, Mrs Anne Coutts, and that service was also officiated at by the Rt Reverend Stuart Robinson, the Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn. Once again, it was a very uplifting ceremony, and we wish both principals, Canberra Girls Grammar’s Mrs Anne Coutts and Dr Justin Garrick of Canberra Grammar School, all the best in their new positions.
From there, on Friday, in my capacity as shadow minister for multicultural affairs, I had the pleasure of attending, at the invitation of the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union of Australia, His Excellency Mr David Daly, and Mrs Aideen Daly, in conjunction with the Ambassador of Hungary, His Excellency Gabor Csaba and Mrs Edit Csaba, the screening of the feature film The Adventurers, which is a Hungarian film coincidentally, which helped to teach me a little about Hungary. It was subtitled so that I could make sure I understood everything that I thought I understood. That film launched the windows on Europe 2011 film festival as part of the Multicultural Festival.
Talking about films, I also attended the screening of a film that was produced totally in Canberra, The Dinner Party. It was produced by Brendan Sloane. The local writer and director was Scott Murden. I believe that three of the major actors in the film live near Kaleen. It was a very well-produced film and, indeed, it took a lot of work on the part of the producer of the film, Brendan Sloane, to actually get the film shown in Canberra. But, in the end, due to assistance from the National Film and Sound Archive, the film premiered a couple of weeks ago in Canberra.
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