Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The arts and cultural sectors on the Sunshine Coast are alive and well, both new organisations and also those that are well established. Only last Saturday night I saw a fantastic play. It was a performance by the Sunshine Coast Theatre Company, which is a new start-up. It was not just a fantastic performance but it was also a very slick operation. It gave me enormous confidence in what this organisation is going to contribute to the Sunshine Coast in the years ahead. There are also well-established groups, in particular the Queensland Conference and Camping Centre, which has established a new program called Triballink. We're talking here about Jinibara country, which is on the mountain top of Mapleton—55 acres worth. They have established this program that gives all visitors, whether they be Australians or foreign visitors, a hands-on experience of what life was like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In doing so, they're working collectively. It's not just the Jinibara people but also the Gubbi Gubbi people and the Wakka Wakka people, joining as one and delivering on this. As much as we have talked of legislation and infrastructure in particular in last few weeks, let's not forget the importance of our local communities and their arts and cultural sectors.

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