Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the great community events held last weekend in the Beenleigh area. The Beenleigh Rum Distillery no longer operates from the banks of the Albert River but sugar cane remains ingrained in the Beenleigh community. Despite urban development pressures, cane is still grown in the Alberton, Woongoolba and Jacobs Well area, a short drive from Beenleigh. The 46th annual Beenleigh Cane Festival of the Rotary Club of Beenleigh was held last weekend. There are two main parts to the festival: the parade and markets during the day and the charity ball at night. The parade through the centre of Beenleigh attracts thousands of spectators who watch more than 60 parade entrants. There are too many to mention here today. The diversity of the displays is demonstrated by the range of the 12 parade entrant winners. They are the Heck Group, the Logan City Access Group, Serranos Mexican Cantina, Ken and Shirley Meggs, Beenleigh PCYC, Beenleigh Rugby League Club, Woongoolba State School, Soroptimist International of Beenleigh, Biosecurity Queensland Fire Ant Eradication, Reimax Town and Country, the 14th Beenleigh Light Horse Troop and the Beenleigh State School.

The festival concludes with the announcement of the cane and charity queens at the charity ball. The main purpose of these contests is to raise funds for our local charities. I congratulate the three dedicated young women who chose to partake in the Cane Queen competition for 2009: crowned Cane Queen and Charity Queen runner-up Brooke Tyson of Daisy Hill, crowned Charity Queen Krystal Oppermann of Ormeau, and Amy Lewis of Belivah. Together, they raised over $22,000 for the community. The ongoing success of the Beenleigh Cane Festival is a testament to the strong, vibrant and dedicated Beenleigh community.

I would like to briefly mention a handful of the hundreds of individuals, businesses and charities that make the Beenleigh Cane Festival a success year after year. Local business supporters who make the day happen include the Albert & Logan News, who provides advertising space; the Beenleigh Bowls Club, who provides facilities and gifts; Hatton Garden Jewellers, who provides gifts and jewellery for the contestants; de Bortoli wines; Bendigo Bank; Beenleigh Girl Guides, who provide the afternoon tea; Music Cavern; and the irrepressible Noel Camilleri, who ensures that we have the sound technology. Government supporters include the Logan City Council, who provides funds; and local representatives and state members, Margaret Keech, Evan Moorhead and Councillor Ray Hackwood, who also provide gifts and sponsorship for the awards. Local community supporters include Greg Semps, who ensures that plenty of cane is present on the day, and Bill and Pat Heck, whose family always supports the parade. The Heck family have nearly 150 years of history in that region. There are many organisations and people who assist individual candidates year after year, including the Beenleigh Sports Club, Beenleigh PCYC and the Voluntary Marine Rescue at Jacob’s Well. Most of all, I must give credit to the Rotary Club of Beenleigh, to President Di Crawford and her husband, John Crawford, the Rotary members, their partners and friends who bring hundreds of involved parties together to turn the cane festival into a great day that we all enjoy.

Just five minutes up the road from Beenleigh is Canterbury College. Canterbury College is one of a number of quality schools in the electorate of Forde. On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending The Wiz, which is a contemporary musical based on the story The Wizard of Oz. It was performed in the Logan Entertainment Centre over a period of days from 28 to 31 May. I acknowledge and congratulate the artistic director, Lissa Gyte, and the music teacher and school music director, Susan Goochee, who also had proven international success in the directorship of the Cantabile Choir in Europe last year. I congratulate the cast and crew, who performed brilliantly. Congratulations also to Donna Anderson, who is the college head. Her school and students are a credit to our community.

The Canterbury College music program is one that I have not seen anywhere else in this country. The college took a number of young girls to Vienna, I think, to perform against hundreds of other choirs, and they won the title of world champion choir. It is wonderful not only for my region of Forde but also for Australia to have a group such as the school’s Cantabile Choir.

I should say, as a little advert, that later this year the Canterbury College Cantabile Choir will perform a major concert in Brisbane, and they have asked me to sing a piece in front. That will be very interesting. It is certainly an opportunity for me. This was an offer by the school for me to be part of that concert, and I certainly appreciate their interest in my musical ability. We will see how that event turns out. Can I say in all seriousness that Canterbury College is a great school and it has a great choir. It is a testament to what this school does and to the quality of education that it delivers.

Question agreed to.