Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is an increasingly powerful force in Canberra, one that is slowly but surely emerging as a supreme influence on the way Canberrans eat, shop, dress, play and live. This force is a blog called HerCanberra. Started as a hobby by its creator, Amanda Whitley, HerCanberra is now a fully-fledged professional operation, featuring the voices of local writers on topics of interest to the capital's female population.

Last week I was lucky enough to be one of 10 women invited by HerCanberra to an event they called 'Canberrans most fascinating women'. Ten Canberra women from diverse backgrounds—from public policy, Indigenous leadership, the arts, child protection and small business—were invited to dinner, for the purpose of stimulating and then recording their conversations about every aspect of life in Canberra.

I cannot speak for myself, but the other nine guests were certainly fascinating: Sarina del Fuego, RAW Canberra showcase director and Short + Sweet Cabaret Canberra producer and director; Rachel Evagelou, owner of Handmade Canberra, a fantastic shop in Civic, winner of the Start-Up Category of the ACT Telstra Business Awards; Deborah Hill, founding member of the Canberra Roller Derby League, and Registrar, Exhibitions and Loans at the National Library of Australia; Vicky Kidd-Gallichan, a fashion designer and owner of couture label, Rockstars and Royalty—she was fantastic; Patricia Mackey, Principal Public Advocate for the ACT government; Carmel McGregor, Deputy Secretary, Department of Defence; Rosanna Stevens, founder of Scissors Paper Pen, a literary collective giving young, emerging and new writers professional development and publishing opportunities; and Rachelle Towart, CEO of the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre.

The night reminded me of what a special place Canberra is. The people who live here, in this case the women who live here, really do lead fascinating lives. They spend their spare time contributing to our society at local, national and international levels. This observation is not just anecdotal. The National Australia Bank's charitable giving index recently found that Canberrans lead the nation in charitable giving. It has also been found that we in the national capital have the highest rate of volunteerism.

I am sure that HerCanberra could have invited any 10 Canberra women along and we would have had an equally fascinating night. The conversations will be edited and posted on the HerCanberra site. I would like to thank Amanda and HerCanberra for organising the night and I also thank the wonderful team of Canberra small businesses they assembled to help out on the night: Foodish, Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, Craft ACT, Chalk Design, Beata English, and Positive Influence. Unfortunately, we only just warmed up by the time we had to head home. I look forward to meeting these nine fascinating women again and I congratulate HerCanberra for this great initiative.