Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight in the adjournment debate to highlight the highly successful community cabinet that was held recently in Kingston in southern Tasmania. The community cabinet was hosted by my colleague the federal member for Franklin and Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services, Julie Collins MP, with the community cabinet taking place at the newly constructed Kingston High School. Julie Collins, as everyone would know, is an extremely hard-working and dedicated local member, and I congratulate her for holding a successful community cabinet.

The community cabinet was also attended by my colleagues the federal member for Lyons, Dick Adams, and Senators Anne Urquhart, Catryna Bilyk and Lisa Singh. The community cabinet was a wonderful opportunity for the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and members of the ministry to travel to Franklin and its surrounds to meet and talk directly with Tasmanians on issues that are affecting them. The community cabinet at Kingston High School proved to be extremely popular, with people signing up to attend the community cabinet at a record pace. I believe we may even have set a record for the fastest filling of a community cabinet event. This highlights the passion and interest Tasmanians have in being politically engaged and involved in policy debate.

On Monday, 3 October, around 300 people filled the recently opened Kingston High School auditorium to the brim, with people even sitting in the aisles to get a seat due to the overwhelming enthusiasm for the event. The session began with a welcome from the principal of the Kingston High School, Ms Gourley, who was delighted that her new school had been chosen to host such a prestigious event. I would also like to thank Ms Gourley and everyone involved from the Kingston High School for their hospitality and professionalism in hosting such a successful event.

Before the formalities of the community cabinet got underway, we were treated to some outstanding musical performances from the students of Kingston High School, firstly, to a wonderful rendition of Advance Australia Fair, performed as a duet by Harriet and Zoe. This was followed by a solo musical instrumental piece by Nick, who blew the audience away with his gifted and talented performance playing multiple instruments, including the didgeridoo and the guitar at the one time. These performances showcased the wonderful talent at Kingston High School.

After these two outstanding performances the Prime Minister and her ministers were faced with the unenviable task of having to follow these young people and their musical items. The Prime Minister spoke about her vision and plans for the future of the nation, with particular focus on the transition of our economy towards a clean energy future and on the limitless potential of our National Broadband Network to increase productivity and drive growth whilst also delivering better health outcomes with great educational possibilities. The Prime Minister also highlighted that Tasmania was in the enviable position of featuring so prominently in the rollout of the NBN compared to the rest of Australia, presenting us with the opportunity to capitalise on its capabilities before the rest of the country. This was particularly pertinent given that earlier in the day the Prime Minister and the member for Franklin, Julie Collins, had announced the rollout of stage 3 and the connection of another 90,000 Tasmanian homes to the NBN.

The Prime Minister spoke about her passion and vision for the introduction of a national disability insurance scheme in Australia and the benefits this would bring to people living with disability. She also spoke about local issues, including the challenges currently facing the Tasmanian economy and the intergovernmental agreement on the Tasmanian forestry industry. The Prime Minister then introduced her ministerial colleagues, who all outlined their portfolio responsibilities and what they had been doing in Tasmania that day and highlighted events and activities they had planned for the next day in Tasmania. I really think this is one of the great aspects of community cabinet—for ministers to visit an area and have the opportunity to meet with local organisations and constituents and to attend events. As each minister described what they had been doing during the day with different local members and senators, it was evident that it represented a vast cross-section of activities and programs operating in southern Tasmania. This allows ministers to see firsthand projects that local MPs have been highlighting in parliament or raising with individual ministers.

The question-and-answer session was extremely fulfilling, with questions from the floor again focusing on a wide and varied range of topics including climate change, asylum seekers, the forest industry, road safety, children with disabilities and foreign aid, and even one question from a parochial Tasmanian—not that there are many of those, as I am sure Senator Colbeck will agree! The session was highly informative, with a number of people in the audience commenting to me after the community cabinet how worthwhile and successful it had been. A lovely lady that Senator Urquhart and I sat next to in the audience even sent through an email thanking us for making special seating arrangements for her hearing impaired husband so that he was able to sit at the front of the room within easy view of the person conducting sign language, giving him an opportunity to grasp the proceedings.

Whilst the 'official' community cabinet event involving the question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister and her ministerial colleagues was extremely well received, the informal meet-and-greet session over a cup of tea and a sandwich also proved to be extremely popular. This provided an informal setting for the Prime Minister and ministers to mingle and meet local constituents. Many people took this opportunity to seek out a minister to chat about a topic they were interested in. The Prime Minister also proved a big hit during the informal meet and greet, with people taking the rare opportunity to get up close for a chat with the Prime Minister, and a few even managed to sneak in a photograph or two. Prior to this mingling session there was an opportunity for individuals, community groups and other organisations to have formal face-to-face meetings with the Prime Minister and her ministers.

As I mentioned earlier, before the Prime Minister and her ministerial colleagues attended community cabinet, they spent the day in the local community. The Prime Minister's first event for the day was the official opening of stage 1 of the Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park, GASP. The GASP project is a fantastic local project which is designed to connect the world-class Museum of Old and New Art, MONA, via a walking path, which includes a breathtaking boardwalk across Montrose Bay, shelter areas and a jetty for ferry access. The GASP was also recently successful in gaining funding to complete state 2 of the project through the Regional Development Australia Fund. As a long-time supporter of GASP, I was delighted that the project was able to secure this funding and I look forward to watching the project continue to grow.

I had the opportunity to host the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, at an aged-care conversation in Hobart. Minister Butler is conducting over 30 aged-care conversations around Australia, listening to views and thoughts from consumers, unions and the sector on how we best support our ageing population into the future. The Hobart forum was extremely well attended, with over 140 people sharing their views and experiences. The Minster for Mental Health and Ageing also visited Lifeline for afternoon tea and a chat with staff and volunteers about their highly successful Chats program and their 24-hour counselling service. Chats is a wonderful program targeted to older people living independently and is about having fun, meeting new people and building relationships which create a feeling of friendship, support and connection.

I also had the pleasure of attending Princes Street Primary School with the Minster for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, to talk to students about being a good global citizen and about Australia's role in the world. The students were fascinated by the topics of discussion and asked some very good questions. The foreign minister also conducted a foreign aid roundtable discussion with key Tasmanian stakeholders, which was hosted by Senator Anne Urquhart and the state member for Lyons, Rebecca White.

The day after the community cabinet, Julie Collins and I joined the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, to deliver an election commitment at the Royal Hobart Hospital, where we officially opened Tasmania's first public PET scanner. The minister also announced over $17 million of funding to provide more beds and services for southern Tasmania. I was also able to show Minister Roxon firsthand the roaring success of the Building the Education Revolution when she officially opened the new BER facilities at Holy Rosary Catholic Primary School in Claremont. It was also a significant occasion for the school as they are celebrating their 50th birthday this year. I acknowledge the Principal, Ms Kate O'Driscoll, and the staff and students at Holy Rosary Catholic Primary School for their warm hospitality.

I would like to acknowledge all the hard work of everyone involved in organising the Kingston community cabinet, which made it such a successful event. I look forward to the next community cabinet in Tasmania. (Time expired)

Senate adjourned at 20:36