Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was my great pleasure last Thursday night to attend not one but two innovation events in the ACT. In Braddon, just across the road from my electorate office, The Studio Braddon is opening—a bright, beautiful and bold space hosted by Maylee Thavat which provides working opportunities for NGOs, for innovative businesses and for women returning to work. The Studio benefits from getting the National Broadband Network, but, alas, my electorate office, a stone's throw away, does not. It is again a testament to the great benefits that the National Broadband Network is bringing to Australia. The Studio Braddon complements a similar space that exists in O'Connor.

I also had the pleasure of speaking at the 10th anniversary of Capital Angels, an ACT based network of 'angel' investors, who talked about many of the important start-ups here in the ideas city. I would like to acknowledge Michele Troni, Nick McNaughton, Stephen Hardy, Ian Cox, Doug Stuart, Keith Ayotte, Bob Quodling, Uwe Boettcher and the indefatigable Anna Pino for their support of innovative businesses here in Canberra.

Canberra is not just the national capital but also the social capital and the creative capital of Australia, and it was terrific to be inspired by those two groups of innovators last Thursday.