Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about the fantastic diversity of the events that have been occurring across my electorate, where, on the same weekend, you can take part in a tractor pull, take pride in a pride march, or see the unveiling of a giant Lego sculpture. Nothing more brilliantly displays the wonderful diversity of the Ballarat region than the Labour Day weekend.

I spent my Sunday morning at Daylesford's ChillOut Festival before heading to the Bullarto tractor pull. From a vibrant, colourful celebration of our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, to a rural community day for steam and petrol engine enthusiasts—you could not have got a better example of the range of communities that make up my electorate. They really are a fantastic part of our community.

On that same weekend I was at the Ballarat Begonia Festival, one of the biggest events of the year in the region, organised by the City of Ballarat. We saw a weekend of celebration, with parades, treasure hunts, art displays, rope mazes, and the centrepiece—a two-metre-high Lego begonia in sunset colours.

The Ballan Autumn Festival does not get as much publicity, of course, as the begonia festival, but when their parade ran through town last weekend you could not move for the crowd. The region turned out in force for a wonderful day of music, food and local stalls of all kinds. Even the locally focused events draw a crowd from around the state. They are terrific events, which give much to the economic development of our community and provide an opportunity for people to celebrate the culture of our local area.

Of course, Ballarat's focus is now turning towards Anzac Day and the special significance of the centenary of the Gallipoli landings. Just last week in this House we were visited by year 9 and 10 students as recipients of and runners up in the Simpson Prize. I was very proud to meet with one of these talented young Australians, Madelyn Rothe, who is a student from Loreto College, just up the road from my electorate office. Her work, considering the reasons why Australians enlisted to fight in 1914, saw her as one of only 16 students brought to Canberra from around the country.

Ballarat has been preparing for Anzac Day with energy, as we have seen revitalised RSLs, avenues of honour, and events like Creswick 1915. Creswick RSL have made a real effort to get the entire community involved, and on Anzac Day you will see the entire town turn back the clock to 1915, with the town done up in that style and fields of crosses—a great community commemoration.

It is important, of course, to see Anzac events like this as part of a larger whole, as around the country we remember the great sacrifice of those who came before us. It is the details of the quiet work of Ballarat residents contributing to this wonderfully diverse community that is what matters—at the heart of our community, hundreds of volunteers are working not just across the Anzac Day events but also across all of these fantastic community events. I want to thank all of those people for the terrific work they do in my community every day of the year.