Page 548 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 20 February 2019
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Waitangi Day is observed each year on 6 February and commemorates the ratification of what is considered New Zealand’s founding document. Written in both Maori and English, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs in 1840. Waitangi Day has been a public holiday since 1974.
The observance of Waitangi Day is an annual event enjoyed by both Maori and Pakeha in the ACT. This year the celebration was held on Saturday, 2 February in Queanbeyan Park. I rise today to publicly thank the local Tumanako Maori Cultural Group for hosting this event, and Mr Isaac Cotter, chairman of ACT Maori Performing Arts Inc, for inviting me to participate. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event that had something for the entire family, including food, merchandise stalls and entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It is important to me that local multicultural community and performance groups receive the attention they deserve. I was pleased to see so many local performers ready and willing to provide a full day of entertainment.
New Zealanders in Canberra play an important role in our culturally and linguistically diverse community. It is important to remember that New Zealand itself is also a wonderfully diverse place, with its Maori and British roots having been enriched over the years by migration from virtually all Pacific islands and from many other nations. Whether they are here permanently or temporarily, I am personally grateful for the contributions of the territory’s New Zealand residents. I thank them again, especially for giving our local multicultural performers such a fantastic opportunity to shine.
Madam Speaker, I wish to speak briefly on another matter. I found it disappointing that earlier today you gave me leave to make a personal explanation about why I should not have been mocked in this chamber; then, under pressure from your side of the chamber and without any explanation, you had me sit down. I may not be as pushy as the Chief Minister but I deserve a fair hearing and fair treatment in this place.
To continue my explanation from earlier today, the Minister for Children, Youth and Families laughed out loud when I asked her a question that referred to the New South Wales government’s commitment to a two-year maximum in out of home care. She then stated that New South Wales had no such commitment.
The minister would be well placed to see amendments to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act and the Adoption Act that have been made public by the New South Wales government. They have indeed committed to having a permanent home for children in care within two years.
Street libraries
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (6.38): Late last year a huge celebrity moved into Canberra. They are constantly accosted for selfies and, when locals get in sight of them, their name is screamed in excitement. It is not an Oscar-winning actor or a gold-medal Olympian. It is Evatt’s very own Hulk, a li’l street library. I witnessed the hype firsthand a few weeks ago when I visited the Hulk and took my hulkie, the obligatory selfie with the fridge turned library. As a young family came down the path,
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