Aussie book industry supported at Parliament House
October 2, 2018
The Parliamentary Friends of Australian Books and Writers (PFABW) celebrated its first anniversary in late September with a record number of attendees at Parliament House.
Launching the Australian Reading Hour for 2018, co-chairs Assistant Minister the Hon. Linda Reynolds CSC and Graham Perrett MP, noted they were pleased with the turn out for such a young Parliamentary Friends group, and that Australian leaders demonstrated their support of the sector that brings Australian books to the public.
Assistant Minister Reynolds said, “We’re proud of what the group has achieved in a year. There’s a genuine enthusiasm to support Australian stories and to work with the Australian publishing industry, authors, booksellers, librarians and creative industries organisations.”
Keynote speaker Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman spoke artfully about the connection between children looking to books and leaders for inspiration and as such, there’s a need for Parliamentarians to keep the Australian book industry and Australian stories in their sights.
Author and Australian Reading Hour Ambassador, Judy Nunn, spoke about her development as a writer, and her desire to share with Australians the stories from our country that had sparked her imagination.
Parliamentarians in attendance included:
- Warren Entsch MP (Qld, Lib)
- Jane Prentice MP (Qld, Lib)
- Tim Watts MP (Qld, Lab)
- Peter Khalil MP (Vic, Lab)
- Senator Steve Martin (Tas, Nat)
- Andrew Giles (Vic, Lab)
- Senator Helen Polley (Tas, Lab)
- Senator Catryna Bilyk (Tas, Lab)
- Tanya Plibersek MP (NSW, Lab)
- Susan Templeman MP (NSW, Lab)
- Patrick Gorman MP (WA, Lab)
- Rebekah Sharkie MP (SA, Centre Alliance)
Graham Perrett MP also promoted the work of the Friends group as well as Australian Reading Hour at the Federation Chamber on 19 September. View presentation here.
Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman and Australian Reading Hour Ambassador Judy Nunn sign copies of their books at Parliament House. Photo: Irene Lorberg Photography.
Graham Perrett MP and Assistant Minister the Hon. Linda Reynolds CSC celebrate the first anniversary of Parliamentary Friends of Australian Books and Writers in Canberra. Photo: Irene Lorberg Photography.
This story originally appeared on the Australian Publishers’ Association website on 26 September 2018. See the original story here.
Images courtesy of Australian Publishers’ Association.