Page 3178 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 September 2014
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forward this motion today, because it does give us a great opportunity to acknowledge the roles of volunteers in our community—something I know that Ms Porter is particularly passionate about.
Here in Canberra we see a great contribution from volunteers. In some ways it is almost impossible to measure and to put some sort of quantification on it. There are so many things in our community that simply would not happen if the volunteers, in their many forms, were not out making the contributions that they do.
Every day, Canberrans contribute their time towards a range of activities and services that help build the fabric of our society. I would like to take this opportunity to talk about just a few examples today. You cannot do justice to perhaps the full spectrum of volunteering activities but I will touch on a few. Ms Lawder mentioned quite a few organisations that she was aware of. I am sure we could all put together a long list as we have the great fortune of meeting them in the course of our business.
Certainly in the environment space there are many ways in which people work to support our environment, and it is a good thing that they do—everything from the Friends of Grasslands to Frogwatch, the National Parks Association and SEE-Change. They do advocacy and policy work, as well as hands-on environmental management and monitoring.
A great example of this is the waterwatch program that has been funded by the ACT government. What we see there is that, by government putting in a little bit of money, the volunteers make it go a long way. In that case we have approximately 160 volunteers monitoring 200 sites across the ACT and region.
In a similar vein, I am also especially grateful to the ParkCare and Landcare groups who support the objectives of TAMS in taking care of our nature reserves. The 21 ParkCare groups and 16 Landcare groups make such a significant contribution in addition to the work that TAMS can deliver, as well as bringing a level of community custodianship to these areas and an incredible level of knowledge. Volunteers they may be, but that should be no reflection on the quality and level of expertise that some of the ParkCare and Landcare groups have. Their knowledge of their local patch is really extraordinary, it is very impressive and is certainly something to be admired.
Of course, our bushfire volunteers are a similar group. They give a high commitment of both their time and expertise. And let us never forget that they put themselves in a level of personal danger in order to protect our community. They work closely with the Emergency Services Agency and TAMS to prepare for each bushfire season, and we are always grateful for their contribution and their dedication.
My interaction with volunteers through TAMS has been extensively recently. I go to events run by volunteers many times each week, and this constantly reminds me of the time and effort put in by the community. That goes across a whole range of areas. I have already mentioned the ParkCare and Landcare groups, but even recently the Friends of Curtin Shops, who I met with on site, raised a series of issues that they wanted to see addressed. They did not just ask the government to do it, but also offered to put in their own time and effort to help improve and maintain their local
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