Print this pageBathurst Community Cabinet Meeting
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Cirkus Surreal from Denison College of Secondary Education entertains the community before the public forum
On Monday 9 November 2009, the Australian Government held its eighteenth Community Cabinet meeting at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, New South Wales. This was the fifth Community Cabinet meeting held in New South Wales. 459 community members attended a public question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister and ministers, followed by a series of meetings between individual ministers and members of the public. The Prime Minister was met on his arrival by the 2010 senior school captains of Denison College of Secondary Education.
Professor Ian Goulter, Vice Chancellor of Charles Sturt University, welcomed the community to the meeting, and Auntie Gloria (Gloria Rogers) acknowledged the traditional owners of the land with a Warming to Country. Entertainment before the public forum was provided by the Bathurst West and Kelso Public Schools Combined Choir, Cirkus Surreal and Swing Factor, from the Denison College of Secondary Education, and Serious Fun, the combined band of the Bathurst Schools Education Group. The Choir and Swing Factor also performed the Australian national anthem.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opened the public forum by noting that Bathurst was the home of Ben Chifley, a former Australian Prime Minister. He spoke of Community Cabinet meetings as a great example of live democracy, making the Government directly answerable to communities. The Prime Minister referred to his attendance that morning at a seminar for health professionals at Bathurst Base Hospital, to discuss the recommendations of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission. He said that the Government recognised the need to plan for the long term for local health infrastructure, and for other major infrastructure priorities, such as the National Broadband Network rollout, to address the digital divide between urban and regional areas.
The Prime Minister finished his address by drawing the audience’s attention to the proposed Flannery Centre in Bathurst, which will be a carbon efficiency skills centre. The Prime Minister recognised the Centre as a local, practical initiative, working to prepare for a renewable future.
Questions asked in the public forum were varied and thought-provoking. The Prime Minister and ministers responded on issues such as, funding for improved and extended rail services, national standards for disability access at public venues, resources for a new economy based on renewable energy, changing Australian attitudes to asylum seekers, and funding for local Indigenous programs.
Following the forum, ministers moved to 44 pre-arranged one-on-one meetings. These meetings provided individuals with an opportunity to discuss a personal matter or an issue of concern directly with the relevant minister.
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