Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 22 October at the Queensland Academy for Creative Industries theatre in Kelvin Grove I had the pleasure to attend the presentation of the achievement awards for excellence in creativity, innovation, design and achievement—all presented by the Queensland Academy for Creative Industries at their excellent awards evening. I was genuinely impressed with the very talented individuals recognised on the evening and I experienced some truly amazing performances. In particular, the performance of Madame Butterfly by Adeline Williams and The Carl Vine Sonata by Faron Swingler were genuinely inspiring.

I was most impressed by the motivation and the interest in new ideas that many participants and performers portrayed on the night. It was great to see the recognition of some original creations and achievements. I wish to commend the Principal, Mr John Rose, who highlighted the achievements of many hard-working and brilliant individuals, whose academic accomplishments are second to none across Australia and internationally. I am particularly determined to support all educational institutions in the electorate of Brisbane, and I commend QACI and their students for their truly wonderful achievements and a fantastic night of entertainment.

Another tremendous community event in my electorate that I recently attended—which is probably as far away from the arts as you can get—was the Fortitude Valley Juniors Rugby League presentations and awards day on 9 October. Valley Juniors, or the Diehards, is a club of tremendous spirit. It is an organisation that provides juniors with all the necessary facilities and volunteers to ensure that the young ones involve themselves in a great sporting competition. The organisation is well organised and supported by a great number of the parents. There were almost 150 people at the presentation.

I witnessed the result of a season’s worth of team work, skill development and reward for participation for the junior club. It was a fantastic day and everyone got involved. I congratulate the committee and all the parents, volunteers and players for their terrific club spirit. It struck me on the day that Valley Juniors is very much a family club and does a great job in welcoming people from very diverse cultures and backgrounds. They also welcome people from the local and wider community.

Whilst rugby league is predominantly played by boys, Valley Juniors encourages and promotes the participation of girls as well, which I find tremendous. It is also notable that on the day Councillor Fiona King from the Marchant ward was in attendance, and she is a very great supporter of this club. I commend her on the work that she is doing, particularly with the improvement of playing fields. I also commend Valley Juniors on a wonderful award day for all.

Another recent and enjoyable event that I attended was held last week and was the CEO Challenge—Art From Your Heart Auction. Australian celebrities and business leaders picked up their paint brushes, painted the town red and raised $30,000 at this fabulous event. The attendees mingled with the artists, their families and supporters, and bidded—sometimes quite furiously—on the art pieces to help raise vital funds for organisations that crusade against domestic violence. It must be mentioned that the event was sponsored and supported greatly by Grant Thornton Australia, and the event was opened by Her Excellency the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce.

The artists, which included me and my own very modest artwork of my beautiful daughter Rachelle and her dog Bilosky, captured the essence of their family on the canvas. Each artist expressed how much they valued and how much they appreciated the loved ones in their lives. I was very surprised to see a reserve price of $500 placed on my artwork. These unique pieces were donated for a very special fundraiser. All in attendance truly had a great sense of enjoyment and appreciated all the contributions. My personal favourites were those of Sally-Anne Atkinson as well as the former Governor of Queensland, Leneene Forde, and Chris Moody, a local businesswoman.

I believe that each contributor would also have thought seriously about our ability to conjure happy and safe memories for this project while at the same time recognising that such happiness and safety is not necessarily experienced by all in our community. Domestic violence is a serious problem. The figures are disturbing, and I was pleased and grateful to support this very original and thoughtful initiative. I commend all involved in the project, and I was very thankful that I was able to contribute to this very worthy cause.