Page 1184 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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to their community. 2017 is not quite three months old, but the ACT government has demonstrated that leadership this year in community inclusion.
Earlier this month on the eve of celebrating Canberra’s birthday I had the honour of announcing our 2017 Canberra citizen of the year. This award is one of the highest honours this city can bestow. It recognises Canberrans who go above and beyond to build a stronger and more inclusive city. This year’s recipient could be said to be the voice of Canberra; Alex Sloan has lent her broadcasting talents to the Canberra community and told the many and varied stories of this city over several decades. Alex’s name has been added to a very distinguished list of Canberrans who have given back so much to their community. We are privileged to have citizens like Alex as part of our community. They help make the fabric of our society much stronger, and it is important that this work is recognised across our community.
Also this month we paid tribute to the many Canberrans who have called this city home for more than 50 years, and I presented them with the Chief Minister’s Canberra gold award. These people are our everyday heroes, the ones who contribute through their daily lives to our community. In this year’s cohort were people who travelled vast distances to make Canberra their home, migrating from the UK, Italy, Macedonia, Greece, Finland and Japan, to name a few. There are people who volunteer for our world-class attractions, including the National Arboretum, the National Gallery and the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, and those who support those less fortunate through work with the Salvos, St Vincent de Paul, the Smith Family and the Red Cross. This year’s group contained a few of our high profile Canberrans, including the psephologist Malcolm Mackerras AO and acclaimed local author Marion Halligan.
This engagement within the local community is important, and it was again on show last weekend at the Connect and Participate Expo in Kingston, where 110 community groups and organisations demonstrate how they connect people across Canberra. The expo supports the ACT government’s vision of increasing community participation in all aspects of life and complements the work being done in the community services, health, sport and recreation, education and arts portfolios.
Of course, March’s month of inclusion also included International Women’s Day. It is important that governments across the world support this day. While there have been many advances in equality over the past few decades, there is much work to be done and it is important that Canberra women are supported and recognised for their work in our city, our region and beyond. Marie-Louise Corkhill is the 2017 ACT woman of the year for her outstanding leadership and contribution to Canberra women and their families.
The Minister for Women, the Deputy Chief Minister, Yvette Berry, launched the ACT government’s first action plan for women, which details the actions that all ACT government directorates will undertake to promote gender equity, wellbeing and the physical and mental health of women and girls in our community. The plan will involve building on our understanding through research and analysis, undertaking innovative actions for change, evaluation and review.
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