James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of having the opportunity to attend the anniversary of the Campbelltown ArtHouse in the heart of my electorate, particularly knowing that I would be here for two parliamentary sitting weeks. It was a thrill to know that I could be there before having to head to the airport yesterday, and to share in that celebration of the fifth anniversary of that great institution. The Campbelltown council has supported it very well, and I was proud to be there and am proud to be a supporter of theirs—and, more importantly, to support them into the future. I really do congratulate James and Ann, who have been the driving force behind creating that community asset. Of course, it's wonderful to be able to provide the opportunity for people to come together and, in this case, participate in artistic endeavours together. They convinced me to attempt to draw something on a landscape that was there on the wall, so I did a tree, which I think looked like a tree. I'm no great artistic expressionist, but I am an admirer of art and those that get such enjoyment out of it. I can say that the people in the community that use that facility find it so valuable. With the challenges of COVID over the last 18 months, it's a timely reminder of how much people value in their community having opportunities to come together in whatever their pursuit or interests might be. At the Campbelltown ArtHouse, this is bringing artists together. So I commend them on their fifth anniversary and their impending move to the Brookside Cellars, and I look forward to supporting them into the future. I congratulate them on their fifth anniversary.