Page 4290 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2019
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Telangana Association—Bathukamma
Help Now charity baseball game
Jasiri Australia—girls take over parliament program
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (6.48): I would like to take this opportunity to briefly touch on some recent community initiatives that I have been part of. On 5 October, I was pleased to attend the festivities of Bathukamma held at Harrison School. This event was held by the ACT Telangana Association, a not-for-profit association which aims to provide a platform for the Telangana people to promote the rich cultural diversity and traditions of the Telangana region of India, to celebrate Telangana festivals in the ACT, and to strengthen community harmony by engaging with the broader ACT community.
Bathukamma is a colourful festival celebrating the cultural identity of the Telangana region. This festival encompasses the beauty of nature, the collective spirit of the Telangana people, and the strong-willed character of the local women. It is predominantly celebrated by women over a span of nine days, when the region is transformed into a vibrant area of flowers that prosper from increased rainfall during the monsoon season. Women make small Bathukammas out of flowers throughout the nine-day period, dance around them each evening and immerse them in nearby water bodies.
ACT Telangana Association’s event was an excellent display of these festivities, with a certain Australianisation of it to some extent, or a localisation of it, and it was a delightful example of Canberra’s rich multicultural community. I want to thank the community for the warm welcome that I received at the event.
Recently I also had the pleasure of playing in the celebrity all-stars team for Help Now’s charity baseball game. Help Now comprises CIT students, social workers and others. It was founded in 2016 to address the gaps in mental health within the ACT. In 2019 it focused on the role of peer workers in the mental health space.
The celebrity all-stars charity baseball game was not only enjoyable but also raised 41 hours worth of mental health peer support work in the ACT. I was disappointed that my team went down. I certainly demonstrated my lack of experience on the baseball pitch, but we had a great time.
I sincerely thank Rodney Stanton and the rest of the Help Now group for organising such a great event. It is a very worthy cause and I think everyone who attended the match had a great time. It was not only the baseball players; Rodney and his team created some terrific opportunities for the children and other spectators who came along to participate in a range of activities.
Finally, Brianna Partington was a welcome part of my office this week for Jasiri Australia’s girls take over parliament event. Jasiri Australia is a volunteer-driven organisation which advocates for enhancing women’s and young girls’ representation in parliament and other leadership roles. I have been really pleased to see the number of young women in the Assembly this week as part of the program, and I
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