Page 3938 - Week 12 - Thursday, 29 October 2015
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The bathrooms are run down and in disrepair and there is no proper extraction equipment to expel the fumes from the petrol-driven Zamboni. If you look on any of Canberra’s social media sites, you will see that the public is clamouring for a new rink and there are numerous complaints about the current rink. On many occasions the seats are filled many hours before the games start, or at least an hour before the game starts, and at Brave games there is never any standing room left before the game starts.
Many ice hockey fans have been remarking that the government should do something about the inadequate facilities instead of throwing money at light rail, and I can attest to that. It has been said to me more than once in recent times. We do need to recognise the role that ice hockey plays in our community, not just locally but nationally as well. The current facilities are clearly beyond capacity. What we see here is ice hockey being a poor relative compared to other national sports in the ACT.
I had the opportunity to attend a number of matches for the Brown Trophy which was conducted at O’Brien rink in Melbourne’s Docklands between 8 and 12 October this year. It is a national sub-professional competition. I do have to declare an interest, in that my son, Tom Dunne, scored the first goal for the ACT in that competition. But it was also interesting to note how badly supported these people were when they had to—(Time expired.)
Share the Dignity
MRS JONES (Molonglo) (6.58): Last month, I was privileged to be a part of the Share the Dignity campaign, which aims to provide homeless and at-risk women with basic essential sanitary products. Share the Dignity was established earlier this year by two women in Queensland who recognised the urgent need to provide support for homeless women in Australia. It is horrifying to think that many women are forced to make a decision between buying a meal or buying pads or tampons.
A reception for Share the Dignity was generously hosted in the reception room by Mrs Dunne in this place at lunchtime on Wednesday, 16 September. It was fantastic to see my fellow Assembly colleagues, Mrs Dunne, Ms Lawder, Ms Porter and Ms Berry, along with many staff members, support the cause. Many local businesses, including City Market Chemist in the Canberra Centre, were extremely generous in donating and supporting this cause to help vulnerable women across Canberra with these essential items.
It was Share the Dignity’s first national drive. It gives me great pleasure to learn that over 1.5 million sanitary items were donated across Australia and that the Canberra community have been a great contributor to this success.
I hope this is just the first step. In Australia right now, it is estimated that around 50,000 women are either homeless or at risk of homelessness. Because of the generosity of so many Australians, a group of these women will be spared the indignity of not having the necessary sanitary items for their health and wellbeing, along with the many other matters that they are grappling with for their survival.
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