- Home
- Hansard & Papers
- Legislative Council
- 9 May 2002
New South Wales Parliamentary Lions Club Charter Night Dinner
Printing Tips |
Print selected text
| Full Day Hansard Transcript
« Prior Item |
Item 49 of 52
| Next Item »
Page: 1935
The Hon. HELEN SHAM-HO [11.09 p.m.]: I shall update the House on the progress of the New South Wales Parliamentary Lions Club Charter Night Dinner, to be held at Parliament House on Monday 17 June at 7.00 p.m. Honourable members may recall that the new club was officially formed at a meeting held at Parliament House on Thursday 21 March this year. The club exclusively comprises members and former members of Parliament, and I am the elected Charter President. The honourable member for Maitland and Deputy Speaker in the other place, John Price, is the Treasurer and the honourable member for Camden, Liz Kernohan, is the Secretary. I commend those honourable members for the selfless way in which they volunteered for these jobs, despite their already busy schedules. The club also has the support of its four honorary members: the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker and the President.
At the formation meeting the club unanimously decided that as our first community project we would raise funds for the Ted Noffs Foundation and the Sir David Martin Foundation. It was also decided that our club's charter night—at which our charter certificate will be presented—would be conducted as a fundraiser for these two worthy charities. The Ted Noffs Foundation and the Sir David Martin Foundation share the common goal of assisting disadvantaged young people and their families, most notably in the areas of drug services and homelessness. I am sure honourable members will agree that this is a very worthy cause.
The Ted Noffs Foundation and the Sir David Martin Foundation also rely upon the generosity and donations of others in order to fund many of their programs. At this stage of the electoral cycle, when the majority of fundraisers are directed at raising money for political parties, charities such as these two foundations find it extremely difficult to raise funds. This is why I proposed the fundraising dinner in the first place. It would be a dreadful shame if these organisations were forced to close some of their programs.
Arrangements for the dinner are well under way, and I am in regular contact with Austin Chin and Wesley Noffs from the Ted Noffs Foundation, as well as Anna Menzies and Michael Sharpe from the Sir David Martin Foundation. I must also acknowledge the efforts and assistance of my husband, Robert Ho, who is on the board of the Sir David Martin Foundation. This is an extremely dedicated and committed group of people, and I thank them for their hard work to date. They have been an absolute delight to work with.
The Charter Presentation Dinner will be an historic occasion celebrating the foundation of the first State Parliamentary Lions Club in Australia. The evening also presents a rare and exciting opportunity for the community and corporate and government sectors to come together in support of a good cause. This is not something that happens very often. I am pleased to report that we have already booked about a dozen corporate, business and community tables, and a couple of Government Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker and the Deputy-Speaker, Parliamentary Secretary the Hon. Ian Macdonald and other prominent people have said they will come. Local Lions members and official representatives from Lions Clubs International also will be attending.
I do hope members of this House will show their support for our new Lions Club and for charity by attending the gala dinner on 17 June. Invitations will be forwarded to all members of Parliament within the next few weeks. As well as supporting a good cause, members can be assured of a very entertaining evening. Australian icon Barry Crocker will be one of our performers, as will an up-and-coming young Chinese singer who recently performed at the Prime Minister's garden party. I have had very good feedback about her performance.
The club is currently seeking sponsorships, donations and prizes to be auctioned or raffled on the night. We have received some very generous sponsorships and prizes to date, and I take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to all of our sponsors and contributors. These include Qantas, fashion designer Leona Edmiston, Lord Mayor Frank Sartor, artists Lisa Barnham and Max Magus, Alfred Lai of the Imperial Peking Harbourside Restaurant, Councillor Robert Ho of Sydney City Council, Eric Wong of Golden Century Seafood Restaurant, Kevin Lee of Chopsticks Chinese Restaurant, Joseph Wong of the Manly Pacific Parkroyal, William Yee and Eric Tam. I especially thank Alex and Nancy Ma of 1A Communications, who have so kindly agreed to sponsor the cost of printing our invitations and the commemorative booklet of the event.
I also express my warmest appreciation of our sponsors HSBC, who have taken out a $10,000 sponsorship, and Project Tourism International, which also has pledged $10,000 for the evening. Other sponsors to date are Star City and the Clubs Association Management of Australia. I hope to get more sponsors nearer to the charter night. Thanks must also go to two Ministers who have graciously agreed to allow the club to "auction" a lunch at Parliament House with them, to be hosted by me. The two Ministers are the Attorney General, the Hon. Bob Debus, and the Special Minister of State, the Hon. John Della Bosca, who will not be able to attend the function because of a prior engagement but who has shown his support for the evening by this kind gesture. Thank you, Minister. Perhaps other Ministers and members will follow suit.
Last, but not least, I thank all the charter members of the New South Wales Parliamentary Lions Club for their ongoing support. With their help and assistance I have no doubt that our Charter Presentation Dinner will be a great success.
Last modified 05/12/2007 16:39:41 : Update this page