Event Photos

Mary recently attended the Launch of the Belconnen Festival at the Belconnen Theatre.

“This year’s festival had much on offer for young and old; from learning about how to live more sustainably to just a chance to have pure fun!” Mary said.

The Festival coincided with the opening of the new Belconnen bus stations and also included some Friday night events.

Belconnen Community Festival is a free, day time bi-annual event with music, dance, circus, stalls, workshops and activities.

Recently, Mary attended the first open day of the High Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre at the CSIRO Plant Industry in their Black Mountain Laboratories.

“Today’s event is very exciting and further proof that the ACT is a powerhouse of scientific innovation, recognised worldwide for excellence in plant biology and agricultural research,” Mary said. “This centre is Australia’s world leading national facility applying high technology imaging, robotics and computing to plant analysis and crop breeding.”

Mary recently joined a weekday working party of Fotpins (The Friends of the Pinnacle) to hoe weeds at the Pinnacle Nature Reserve. Mary joined Bob Hodgson, Vaughn Cox and Vaughn’s daughters, Chelsea and Laura, to weed (technically called grubbing!) pest species that have been targeted by the group.

The reserve is located behind the suburbs of Weetangera and Hawker, and has magnificent views of the Molonglo Valley and the Brindabella Ranges.

Recently Mary was pleased to announce that there were already eight multi-organ donors in the ACT up to August this year, already equalling the total for 2009! She was speaking at the 12th Australian Transplant Games Gala Dinner at the Great Hall, Parliament House.

“The 12th Australian Transplant Games have been a wonderful way of raising awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation” Mary said, “I’ve signed up and I would encourage everybody to discover for themselves the value of this decision to our community.”

Mary recently opened a new trail at Stromlo Forest Park in memory of the late James ‘Willo’ Williamson.

The new trail, which is 1.5 km long, starts at Wombat Junction and links to the western mountain bike trails near Slick Rock.

“James Williamson, or Willo, as he was more affectionately known, will be remembered for the huge impact he had on the mountain bike world in such a short period of time, both on and off the bike,” Mary said.

As we know the ACT has hugely benefitted from the Building the Education Revolution (BER) projects. Mary saw these positive impacts at both McGregor and Maribyrnong Primary Schools, where she recently attended the official launch, with her Federal colleague Andrew Leigh, Member for Fraser.

“These projects, which cost over $2 million, are in addition to the $523 million capital investment that the ACT Government is making in public education, including upgrading all ACT public schools, to ensure every school is a great school,” Mary said.

Mary announced the winners of the International Tenants Day –Tenant Art Competition and Exhibition Launch, and this year’s People’s Choice Award, at the Awards Night Ceremony held at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre in Civic.

“Congratulations go to Madeleine Dornan for taking out the premier award for her insightful artwork, Homeward Bound, and also to the People’s Choice Award winner, Mr. Carlsford, for his artwork Hans at Home” Mary said.

Just recently Mary enjoyed another chance to join 115 volunteers, in superb conditions in the Lower Cotter, planting 2310 trees, shrubs and understorey species, together planting over 50 locally native species.

To quote Greening Australia’s report of the day, “the sun was shining, the air was warm and still, and digging was easy due to recent rainfall.”

Australia hosts some 650,000 overseas students, 10,500 of whom are likely to be in the ACT. International students have so many things to consider when they arrive in a foreign country.

Recently Mary launched the Think Before – A Student Safety Initiative in the ACT, a social media-driven campaign designed to improve situational awareness among international students in Australia.

Mary relaunched the recently refurbished Albert Hall during the ‘What’s it Worth Day’, organised by the Rotary Club of Canberra and the National Trust.

“Most of us who have lived in Canberra for any length of time have great memories of events we have attended at Albert Hall, and in the early days of the city it really was our town hall, hosting all manner of public and private events,” Ms Porter said.