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Mr JOHN BARTLETT (Port Stephens) [5.15 p.m.]: I speak today about a wonderful event in my community last Saturday 25 October when a Beyond the Frame art exhibition was held at the Tomaree Community Centre. The Beyond the Frame art exhibition was entitled "In the Palms of Our Hands" and it was put on by all the Tomaree Peninsula public schools, at Soldiers Point, Anna Bay, Tomaree, Shoal Bay and Bob's Farm, together with Tomaree High School, and the parents and citizens associations were sponsors of the art exhibition. The aim of Beyond the Frame was to link students as art makers with their audience, their community and their environment, and to bring the community together to see the value of arts in the school curriculum and in the cultural life of the community. What an outstanding job the schools have done! I could not do any better than quote from the agenda for the evening. Lachlan Smith from Tomaree Public School stated:
We are here this afternoon to celebrate the opening of an exhibition of pottery and other art works that honour Cabbage Tree Island.
Cabbage Tree Island is a protected nature reserve just beyond the heads of Port Stephens.
It is named after the ancient palms that form part of the subtropical rainforest.
Millie Brown from Bob's Farm Public School said:
Cabbage Tree Island is the home of the threatened seabird, Gould's Petrel, whose survival is in the Palms of our Hands.
The artists who are exhibiting the today have drawn their inspiration from Cabbage Tree Island’s unique and pristine environment, as well as from the fight to save the petrel.
Gould's petrel is a very threatened species. The only island where it ever lands is Cabbage Tree Island off Port Stephens. It never lands anywhere else. After the petrel is hatched it flies away, it does not land, it rests on the sea over a three-year period, and then comes back to the island to rear its young. It has been one of the great achievements of the National Parks and Wildlife Service to bring the bird from near extinction to a far safer position. To save a bird that lands on only one island in the world, the service got rid of the rabbits. I said to someone that rabbits do not eat birds and the person said, "Yes, but they eat the grass and the vegetation." When the rabbits ate the grass and the vegetation, more birds of prey came down to eat the young. Getting rid of the rabbits stopped vegetation loss. The birds have come back and it looks as though they are going to survive. The whole event at Tomaree was about celebrating this victory. Chloe Burchmore from Shoal Bay Public School thanked all the teachers, the talented guest artist, Robin Furner, and the school's wonderful teacher, Mrs Wendy Brown.
Chloe stated with respect to the creation of the pottery and artwork, "Together they have taught us to honour Cabbage Tree Island with the Palms of our Hands". Mrs Brown and Mrs Furner were praised for their talent. The cost of the exhibition was $8,000 and calls were made for the State Government to provide funding. The Dobell Foundation donated $1,500 and other community groups, such as the Soldiers Point Bowling Club, Greg O'Donnell, an optometrist on the Tomaree Peninsula, Ports Stephens Council, Hunter Water, Artstart from the Newcastle Community Art Centre, John Clark, a well-known naturalist in the Port Stephens area, Shoal Bay Resort and Spa, and the parents and citizens associations of the local schools all made contributions. This wonderful event fulfilled the aim of connecting art and culture to the environment. I congratulate everyone involved.