Page 1251 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Hawker Primary School—fete
Men’s sheds
MS PORTER (Ginninderra) (6.30): Before I talk to my substantive matter, I would like to add my congratulations to the organisers, teachers, students and parents on the Hawker fete, which I also attended, along with Dr Leigh at the time that I was there. Dr Leigh and I drew the raffles for numerous baskets of goods that were prepared by each class. Each class, with their parents and with their teachers, prepared a basket which had a different theme. It was fantastic to see the effort by the whole community, as Mr Coe has mentioned, to run a successful fete every year.
Following on from Mr Gentleman’s recent successful motion, I want to mention that in Darwin there is a men’s shed band which is a group of younger men and some older men which started from a small band practising in a shed, now growing in numbers to offer friendship and also the chance to learn and compose music and to sing and play a musical instrument.
Some of these men’s shed members are young and still in paid employment. That is why I am talking about this particular shed. Many of us have concentrated in our remarks today on the value of the movement to retired and older men and their families and communities. I do not want to lessen that impact or indicate that in any way it is not important, because that is very important. However, men’s sheds are many and varied, as many of us have said. They emerge organically from their communities, usually because of an initiative of one or two people seeing the need for wanting to start something new or to reach out to others. They do not always call themselves a men’s shed straightaway; it takes the gradual evolution of the shed that leads to the members identifying their group under the men’s shed banner.
It appears this was the journey that this men’s shed band in the Northern Territory followed. I realise this is in a different territory; however, it is just another example of the diversity of the movement that I mentioned and the way that it responds to what is occurring at the local level.
I look forward to learning more about men’s sheds emerging across the ACT. I know from our experience here that members of the existing sheds will be generous in their support of any new sheds. I am glad that the minister is keen to continue to support the movement in the ACT.
Canberra winemaking
DR BOURKE (Ginninderra) (6.33): Grape growing and winemaking are a significant part of the agricultural industry surrounding the ACT. The region has been producing wine for over 160 years and we are proud to call it the Canberra wine district. The quality of our wines is evidenced by the award to Tim Kirk from Clonakilla of Gourmet Traveller magazine’s 2013 winemaker of the year. The geography of our region, with elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, different soils, temperatures and humidity conditions, produces a great diversity of wine styles, as well as enabling the cultivation of a broad variety of grape varieties, including shiraz, pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video