PANASONIC KID WITNESS NEWS NEW VISION AWARDS

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:44): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier tell the house about the success of students from Kaurna Plains School and Hackham East Primary School at the recent 2010 Panasonic Kid Witness News New Vision Awards in Sydney?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:44): I would be very pleased to, and I also want to thank the honourable member for introducing me to some of these young people over the years and, in fact, to do an interview and also see some of their musical performances. They are kids of great talent led by teachers of great talent. So, I thank the member for Mawson for his question and for his great interest in his local schools. I am pleased to inform the house that two schools from South Australia did exceptionally well in the 2010 Panasonic Kid Witness News New Vision Awards held in Sydney on 20 October.

These awards were launched in 2004 and provide students with the opportunity to write, direct, film and star in their own short movie. More than 180 students from primary and secondary schools across Australia attended the awards at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Judges at the awards included INXS lead guitarist, Tim Farriss; former Young Australian of the Year and three times AFI award nominee, Khoa Do; as well as highly regarded film editor and member of the Australian Screen Editors Guild, Jane St Vincent Welch.

Sixty-three primary and secondary schools from around Australia participated this year, giving students the opportunity to write multiple scripts, edit, interview and use storyboards. Amidst strong competition, I was delighted to hear that both Kaurna Plains and Hackham East Primary were successful at the award ceremony in Sydney. Kaurna Plains School, an Aboriginal school that caters predominantly for Aboriginal students, was awarded the National Secondary School Award and South Australian Secondary School Award for its film, Warraburna Kaurna, or translated, 'Let the language be spoken.'

About 30 year 8 and 9 students, under the leadership of teachers Kevin Duigan and Leayshia Gaston, took part in the making of the film, which tells the history of the Kaurna language and its disappearance after English settlement in Australia. It also celebrates the 30^th anniversary and revival of the Kaurna Aboriginal language. Year 8 student, Amy Karpaly, did the translation from English to the Kaurna language. These highly acclaimed winners were also recognised for the movie's technical excellence, taking home the National Spotlight Award for videography.

Members of the house would be familiar with the outstanding talents of the students at Hackham East Primary School. Their school choir not only boasts wonderful singing voices but also performs in Maori—Maori music—including an outstanding Haka (which I am quite happy to replicate one day in the house) under the direction of teacher, Jarrod Lamshed.

Earlier this year, I was advised that seven students from Jarrod Lamshed's year 7 students were making a short film on the Adelaide desalination plant and that they wanted to interview me for the movie, Beneath the Surface: Desalination is the Answer. Two of the young filmmakers flew to Sydney with their teacher, Jarrod Lamshed, for the 2010 Panasonic Kid Witness News New Vision Awards. On the night, they won the SA Primary School Award for their movie, winning a trophy and $2,000 worth of movie-making equipment for their school.

I am advised that, while unsuccessful on the night, Parafield Gardens Primary School also reached the finals and, having had a long association with that school, I congratulate them on their efforts. On behalf of all South Australians, I thank all the students and teachers from both Kaurna Plains and Hackham East primary schools involved in this project and commend them for doing their schools, their communities and their state proud—great journalists of the future.