Thank you, Madam Speaker. My children are enrolled in three different ACT schools. I am grateful that they get to grow up with easy access to quality education. We parents understand personally the role education plays in growing strong individuals who can think critically, reason logically and act for themselves, even – perhaps especially – when that means not blindly following the crowd. Essential to the educational enterprise are many dedicated, hard-working teachers. My c

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Much has already been said in this chamber today about R U OK? Day. I wish to add a personal contribution. R U OK? encourages concerned people to follow four ‘simple steps that could change a life’. The fourth of these is to ‘check in’. It is important, of course, to start this whole process of checking on people, but I hope that we will understand the absolute importance of this last step, especially since it unavoidably goes beyond a single event o

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Amongst the many enjoyable things that I got to do this past Sunday, one of the highlights was a visit to Canberra’s new Latin American Cultural Centre. This facility is the first of its kind in the ACT, and Canberra’s Latin American community members are thrilled to have it. The new centre will promote Latin American culture by providing a space where a number of cultural groups and activities can thrive. Spanish language classes are already being t

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am delighted that Ms Lawder brought this matter of public importance before the Assembly this afternoon, and I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to it for a few moments. Recently I struck up a phone conversation with an elderly gentleman who responded to a classified advertisement that my family and I had placed in a local paper. In the course of speaking, he let me know that he recently lost both his wife and his dog and felt lonely and los

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is with a heavy weight of responsibility both on my shoulders and in my heart that I rise today. In a personal way, I want to say that I’m sorry. Nineteen months ago, a young boy here in the ACT was murdered by his father, who has now confessed to the terrible crime. Mrs Jones, Bradyn Dillon’s mother, has stated publicly that she and her family contacted Child and Youth Protection Services, ACT Policing and other government agencies in an effort t