Community Groups

It was an honour to attend and open the Dragon Boat Festival. It was made possible through the cooperation of many of our multicultural community groups such as Community Culture Services, Canberra Griffins Dragon Boat Club and the ANU Chinese Classical Music Ensemble.

The festival is truly a small piece of China in Canberra with traditional dance, singing and poetry reading. It has been running for over eight years now, and I encourage everyone to attend next year.

In keeping with the spirit of praising our community organisations, I also wish to thank Canberra Community law and Onelink for their advocacy on behalf of a constituent of mine.

Almost one year ago, I was contacted by a resident in desperate need of public housing. This person had been a public servant for over 14 years and served the ACT Government for 10 of those. Some time ago, she was diagnosed with a degenerative condition that caused a rapid deterioration in her health. In a relatively short amount of time, she went from healthy, to wheelchair bound. Her income was no longer sufficient to compete in the private rental market.

I am delighted to be able to say that after a year of advocacy from myself and other community organisations, we have found her a home.

Click on the arrow button to read my speech.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It was an honour over the weekend to attend and open the Dragon Boat Festival, along with my fellow MLAs Mark Parton, James Milligan, Michael Petterson, and Shane Rattenbury.

The Dragon Boat Festival is a long-running event in Canberra and is a dazzle of colours, performances, and multicultural spirit. It commemorates the story of the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan. At the end of a story of intrigue and exile, Qu Yuan (Chu You-An) drowns himself in the Miluo River. There are many different endings to this legend, but a common one is that the locals raced out in their boats to save him. This is said to be the first dragon boat race.

The festival here is made possible by the cooperation of many community groups such as Community Culture Services, the Canberra Prosperous Mountain Dragon and Lion Dance Troupe, the Federation of Chinese Community of Canberra, the Canberra Griffins Dragon Boat Club, the ANU Chinese Classical Music Ensemble, and many others from Canberra and interstate.

And of course the festival wouldn’t be the same without the many Canberrans who turned out to support it on a freezing day, made even colder by the cutting winds over Lake Burley Griffin.

Despite the weather, attendees were still presented with a spirited dragon boat race, and anyone feeling the cold getting to them could participate in traditional dance practice.

The festival is truly a small piece of China in Canberra, with traditional dance, singing, poetry reading, cultural games, and cultural food. It has been running for over eight years now, and I encourage everyone to attend next year. It is truly a wonderful experience.

Lastly, I want to give a shout-out to the president of Community Culture Services, Wenjing Zhou, who put so much time and effort into organising this event, and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next year.

In the spirit of praising our community organisations, I also wish to thank Canberra Community Law and Onelink for their advocacy on behalf of a constituent of mine.

Almost one year ago I was contacted by a resident in desperate need of public housing. This person has been a public servant for over 14 years and served in education for the ACT Government for 10 of those. Some time ago, they were diagnosed with a degenerative condition that caused a rapid deterioration in their health. I have personally witnessed how severe this condition is. In a relatively short amount of time, this person went from being a healthy individual to being wheelchair bound. Their only source of income is an NDIS package and a disability pension. This is not nearly enough to compete in the private rental market.

A few months ago, they were given notice to vacate and must be out of their current home by the end of this month. With the disability, the low income and the freezing weather in mind, their situation is critical.

I have been in contact with Ms Vassarotti about this individual and she has been very attentive to this issue.I thank her for the work she has done so far in obtaining this person a home and although no home has been identified as of yet, I urge her to find this person a home before they are forced to vacate into a freezing Canberra winter.

Thank you.