ADDRESS TO THE FEAST OF THE SENSES FESTIVAL

_{17 March, 2007}

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Thanks very much Sam.  To Tim Mulherin, the Queensland Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries, General Peter Cosgrove, Senator Ron Boswell a colleague of mine in the Senate - I'm also a Senator but after the events of the last couple of days I think neither Ron nor I would want to be recognised as such.

There are politicians here who are not Senators and I'd like to also acknowledge Andrew Cripps, Member for Hinchinbrook, Rosa Lee Long, Member for Tablelands and good to see Councillor Terry Jones here from Cairns and I also see Neil Clark sitting over there, as one of the crowd, good to see you here.

When I talk about politicians and some of the trouble we sometimes get into, it reminds me of the profession that I am now in, which is politics.  As you know the word politics is made up of two words. "Poli" the old Latin word meaning many and of course "tics" – which as you all know are blood sucking insects!  So perhaps it's not the right profession to be in just at this time.

Ladies and Gentlemen we North Queenslanders and I include you in that Tim, Mackay also is North Queensland for the point of the exercise, but we North Queenslanders are a fairly resilient lot you know. Fifty weeks ago I was on a farm just out of town here, and every single banana tree there had been snapped off practically at the base.

And yet here we are not a year later and the bananas are flourishing everywhere, you can buy them anywhere around the country now which you couldn't do for many, many months.  And just as the bananas have recovered in this area, so have the people.  And whilst there's still a lot to be done in this community, there has been an enormous amount achieved in restoration work over the past 52 weeks.

We have to thank people like General Cosgrove, Inspector Rob Graham, Superintendent Mike McKay, Justin Commber and people like Neil Clark and his team at the time, all of those people, the SES, all of those who got in and did the work were just absolutely sensational and it meant that this community has got back on its feet.

The people of this district actually deserve every accolade that they have received for the way that they have recovered their lives, their businesses and indeed their community.

The resilience I mentioned earlier is no better exemplified I think than by this particular festival that you're enjoying last week and this week and by of course this Feast of the Senses that we're all very much enjoying tonight.

This festival I think is the embodiment of the sort of spirit that the people of this community have.  This feast highlights through sight, through smell, through hearing, through taste and through touch, the wonders that this district produces.

But because of the cyclone and the financial difficulties caused by the cyclone, the normal sponsors who always came to the party to help this festival and this feast, get to its ultimate conclusion, haven't been able to support it financially to the extent that they have in the past.  So it looked, I understand, for a while like this feast and the festival would not happen this year.

The State Government came good with their normal contribution, the Council and I understand Graham Webb from my home town of Ayr, made sure that commitments made by the previous Council were actually honoured.  I know that a lot of local businesses did put in some money but at the end of the day the festival organising committee was some $35,000 short of being able to run this festival and tonight's feast.

And that's where I'm delighted that my colleague, Senator George Brandis, the Federal Minister for Arts and Sport was able to dig deep into his pockets and find as a one off grant to the Feast of the Senses the sum of $35,000 so that this could go ahead.

The Australian Government does actually provide money for regional and community festivals for quality cultural projects through the Festivals Australia Program we have, but because the decision to continue with the festival was only recently made it wasn't possible to get the application through and deal with it in the normal sort of way.  So I am particularly grateful to Senator Brandis and I know I speak on behalf of all the people of Innisfail in saying this - we're grateful that he was able to find $35,000 hidden away in some bottom draw that enabled this to go ahead.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as a Government we have shared the concern of your local community with the drop off in tourism numbers following the cyclone and we have understood why cultural pursuits and involvement in the arts have had to take second place to the recovery process.  But this festival which is so aptly named, will bring back the tourists to this locality, particularly those tourists like me who have a keen tooth and a good appetite who love food and understand food.  They will be really impressed with this area and you get the impression and get impressed because of this festival and this feast that we're having tonight.

It's all part of bringing tourists back into town, building the local culture and arts and indeed ensuring that the recovery process and the morale of this community continues to grow and recover.

And when I say, as I'm representing the Minister for Arts and Sport, we are very keen to ensure that when you've got through the recovery phases that you do return to the culture and the arts that has made this district so vibrant.

A lot of the earlier speakers spoke about this being the racial melting pot of the world almost, and it's the different cultures, different influences and so many different types of people here that makes all this happen.

I'm delighted to see that whilst the arts and sports have had to take second place to the recovery, there is still a very vibrant arts community going and I was delighted to find tonight (and I can excuse myself for doing a little bit of a commercial) this particular book If Walls could Talk.

I understand most of you know about it.  Jackie Duffy puts the stories together and her friend Stasia Abraham the art work.  It's a fabulous production and it really does show what a vibrant arts community you have in this district.

I understand one of these is going to be auctioned later on tonight.  Is that right Jackie?  What a sensational book it is, it's a really quality article.  If you haven't seen it, make sure you have a look at it or better still why don't you buy it at the auction.  It's a fabulous book and congratulations to Jackie Duffy and Stasia Abraham for the work they've done.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, with that can I wish you all the very best for the festival.  I'm sorry that I won't be here tomorrow to eat the produce but I'm leaving Ron Boswell here.  If you take a look at Ron, Ron knows his way around food and I know that he and Peter Cosgrove - Peter has trimmed off a bit lately - but I know that they'll take back to the south really great stories about the food and the treats that they have had here in Innisfail.

So Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sure the festival will continue to be a success this year and for many years to come.  All the best and in closing can I again join everyone else in congratulating those who've been involved, Geoff Bains and his team, and particularly Ailsa Day the coordinator who I think could sell snow to the Eskimos.  Might I say you couldn't have picked a better salesman for this coordinator role for this festival.

Congratulations to you all, well done.

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