Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me absolute pleasure to rise today to highlight a fantastic event that I recently attended in my electorate. Imagine the Possibilities Masquerade Ball was a night of glitz and glamour to commemorate International Womens Day. This amazing event was made possible thanks to the Zonta Club of Cairns in collaboration with Empowering Women Empowering Communities. On arrival, the guests received handmade one-of-a-kind masks made by the wonderful ladies of the Women's Yarning Place, a safe place, my beautiful wife, Yolonde, established in Cairns Villa and Leisure Park in December 2019. The ball highlighted the challenges faced by many women in disadvantaged communities and generated awareness of two organisations that seek to address these challenges.

The evening consisted of a range of entertainment from local groups. I would like to give a shout out to local Indigenous artist, Peter Dabah, who painted a magnificent piece, Earth Mother, to raise much-needed funds for the organisations. I would also like to acknowledge the enormous efforts of Bridie Walsh and the four ladies who made the masks—Janet Patterson, Melanie Mallony and Amanda Griffiths and Theresa Knight, the many people behind the scenes who donated resources and many long hours to ensure this inaugural event went off without a hitch. I can tell you now I'm certainly looking forward to attending the event in 2022.