Debates Day 4 - Tuesday 9 May 2017
Parliamentary Record 5
Debates for 13th Assembly 2016 - 2018; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 13th Assembly 2016 - 2020
2017-05-09
pp 1623 to 1686
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
application/pdf
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/271438
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/432640
DEBATES Tuesday 9 May 2017 1680 She made the Territorys social and political history better understood and valued, and importantly, she made it come alive. Not surprisingly, the ABC loved her. She gave often and willingly of her time and expertise. She held listeners spellbound with her passion for telling the stories of the Territory. Mickey also sat on various committees and councils, the Place Names Committee and the Heritage Council of the Northern Territory being two where she made valuable contributions. In all her work Mickey was highly professional and generous with her time and ideas, always encouraging her colleagues. Not content with being a terrific historian with an unquenchable thirst for learning, Mickey studied to become a librarian and then to gain a masters degree in library information management. She worked at the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education library, and in 2013 took on the position of heritage coordinator at the Northern Territory Library. Mickey brought her broad knowledge of Territory history to the library and often amazed visitors with her ability to answer the most obscure questions. She gave the library her incredible creativity and curatorial skill in the exhibitions she created whilst there. Her latest work was the development of an exhibition for the Northern Territory Library exploring the breadth of Northern Territory history. The active Fannie Bay History and Heritage Society and many areas within my electorate of Fannie Bay have significant historical and cultural value. I often spoke with Mickey, seeking advice about these places and institutions, and the best way for me as a local member to either protect them or celebrate them. She was always generous and willing with her time, and her advice was always on point. Speaking as the local member, the Fannie Bay electorate was better for her knowledge, experience and willingness to share it. She loved the Northern Territory. I found Mickey to be a valuable mentor. I once spent 10 minutes praising the Cyclone Tracy exhibit to her; lavishing it with compliments without realising that she was the one responsible for it. She sat there politely hearing me out while I told her about how wonderful this exhibit was. Perhaps the worst experience of mansplaining in my lifehow it was a beacon for visiting friends and relatives, and at the end of it she kindly explained to me it was one of the first things she did after finishing her degree. She was a fantastic asset to the Territory. Whilst Mickey inspired us all with her understanding of and passion for the Northern Territory, our thoughts today are with the most important and most loved people in Mickeys life, her family: David, Sam and Susannah. Rest in peace, Mickey. Ms WAKEFIELD (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to talk of a fantastic event recently run in Alice Springs for the first time, but I suspect will be an ongoing event in our calendar. May 4, as we all know, is Star Wars Day. I acknowledge Scotty McLaren, who is well known to Alice Springs listeners of Sun FM as a breakfast announcer and a Star Wars tragic. Through his passion he organised an event at Alice Springs called Celebrating a Galaxy Far Far Away on Tatooine. It included the Imperial March on the lawns of Lasseter, and a screening of Rogue One and Episode IV: A New Hope. I confess, the Chief Minister has strong views about the order in which Star Wars should be watched, and he and Scotty will be in alliance on this one. One of the things I love about Alice Springs is that people who are passionate get opportunities to act on those passions in our town, and people back them. This was an extraordinary event. I know Scotty was able to get a lot of support from the town council, and the Alice Springs Town Band, played the entire soundtrack at the event. The Desert Sports Foundation, Lasseters, the RSL, Bunnings, the local toy shop at Tonz-A-Toys and Yeperenye all backed Scotty and his vision of this event. Looking at the photos of all the young children dressed up in their Star Wars gearthere were a lot of Luke Skywalkers there and a few other characters that I was not as clear on, but they were very enthusiastic fans, with parents dressing up as well. You know you are doing well when you get recognition from the Lucas fans relations team, which publicly congratulated Scotty on the event. He has plans for next year. I am not sure if we spied two moons over Alice Springs that night, but almost, if you squinted. Well done, Scotty, for that work.