Page 1864 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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been a good commitment to activities involving dogs without homes, be it walking dogs at the pound and the RSPCA or assisting in fostering dogs.
There are many benefits to be gained not just for the subject of the volunteering—the the animals or the land—but also for the people doing the volunteering as we develop a greater understanding of those in our community who require assistance.
I will talk now to Mr Doszpot’s amendments. I acknowledge the points Mr Doszpot has made in his amendments. As he said, all of us give time to activities, and it is safe to say that we probably give well more than three days of our time volunteering. One of the great things we get to do as MLAs is various bits of volunteering with a range of organisations so we get to see what these different organisations do.
Mr Doszpot: So why are we mandating it?
MS BRESNAN: I take your point, Mr Doszpot, but in terms of the part of Ms Porter’s motion that specifically Mr Doszpot has proposed amendments to, I think it is asking the Assembly to take a lead in promoting in the community. That is a positive thing for us as MLAs and as prominent people or leaders in the community to do. I do not interpret it as directing or mandating us as members to do something. I do not agree with that point Mr Doszpot has made, and I also do not agree with the point that was made that if members were volunteering we would reach the three days and that is all we would do. I have already mentioned that we do a lot of things outside of hours with various organisations and we devote a lot of time to activities in the community, so I just do not think that is something that would happen.
I do not see this part of the motion as denigrating what we already do. We should take the motion in the spirit in which it was intended—that is, promoting volunteering and asking us as MLAs to take a lead role. For that reason, I will not be supporting Mr Doszpot’s amendments. I take his, point, but I do not see it as denigrating. It should be taken in the spirit in which it was intended, and we will be supporting Ms Porter’s motion today.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (6.40): I rise to speak very briefly in support of Ms Porter’s motion. I thank her for bringing it on today, and I thank other members for their contributions. It is always interesting to see how members in the Assembly fill their time with volunteer organisations.
We understand that volunteering is indeed a key part of a good society, and Canberra is a good society. I know there are very many active volunteers across our community. We are celebrating 10 years of volunteering in the ACT. Just as a side note, some of you may be aware that the former Chief Executive of Communities@Work, Ms Maureen Cane, who was also the Canberran of the Year 2011, has recently been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Volunteering ACT. There is no such thing as keeping a good woman down or out of being occupied. I welcome the opportunity to continue to work with Maureen Cane in her new role, and I wish her well for that.
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