Page 776 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2018
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But to be approached by Caitlin and Ashleigh to put on this class was something that really took me back to hone my taekwondo skills and I was able to teach a few basic self-defence moves based on the taekwondo principle. Perhaps it is no surprise that, of course, the biggest and most immediate tool in our defence kit is our voice. Anyone walking past the Theo Notaras building on that day may well have wondered at the number of very loud voices counting in Korean and sounding very threatening.
I thank and acknowledge my colleagues Ms Lawder, Miss C Burch and Ms Le Couteur for really getting into the swing of things and looking and sounding very self-defence competent post class. I thank Caitlin and Ashleigh for their tireless enthusiasm and advocacy for so many things, and it is no wonder that Caitlin, Jasiri founder and CEO, was named ACT Young Woman of the Year this year and Ashleigh, Jasiri’s chief operating officer, was named ACT Woman of the Year.
We are, indeed, blessed to have these two outstanding young women here in the ACT, and I am also honoured to have been asked to become Jasiri Australia’s first ambassador. I know that I will need to work hard to keep pace with these two dynamos but I absolutely support their hard work, their advocacy and their enthusiasm to make the world a better and safer place for those impacted by violence. I look forward to working with them and the entire Canberra community to, indeed, be fearless.
Mental health—fundraising event
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety, Minister for Corrections and Minister for Mental Health) (5.51): I rise tonight to speak about the Puka Up Foundation who are currently undertaking a bike ride from Sydney to Melbourne to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention. There are 28 riders taking part in the challenging eight-day, 413-kilometre event. It is an important issue and it is bringing much-needed attention to the issue of suicide, an issue that continues to impact families and communities across the country on a daily basis.
I had the pleasure of going out and joining the team for part of their ride on Sunday. I can confess I did not ride that far with them but I enjoyed joining them. They are doing a great job and are a very committed bunch of people. They were riding through Canberra on Sunday. It was a hot and windy day, as members will recall, but they were all in great spirits.
Puka Up is a new social enterprise founded by one of Australia’s leading mental health advocates, former AFL footballer, Wayne Schwass. Having battled silently with his own mental health for much of his sporting career, Wayne is now a dedicated mental health advocate committed to raising awareness about mental health, emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. In the Hindi language Puka means authentic and genuine. The foundation has come from Wayne’s own personal experience and his desire to do something but he is really seeking to turn that into something much bigger and to have a significant impact on the community.
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