Look mum, I'm famous

If some of this sounds a bit familiar, each NT Member of Parliament has an internet connection right in the Chamber at his/her Seat.
No prizes for guessing which page was open when this speech was given... :)

This is an uncorrected proof of the daily report. It is made available under the condition that it is recognised as such. Eighth Assembly First Session 09/05/2000 Parliamentary Record No:22

Topic : ADJOURNMENT

Subject : Date : 17/05/2000

Member : Mr ELFERINK (MacDonnell)

Status : Information : Mr ADAMSON (Corporate and Information Services):

Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn. Mr ELFERINK (MacDonnell): I rise tonight to speak on a couple of issues.

The first issue I wish to speak about is the very small country of Medalon . I am certain that very few members in this house would have ever heard of the country but it lies between the vast nation of Karien to its north and Fardohnya in the south. I am getting several quizzical looks at this stage, but of course I am speaking of a fiction.

The fiction I am referring to is actually a fantasy fiction and is written by Jennifer Fallon who is an author in Alice Springs who has recently been chosen by Harper Collins to have her Demon Child Trilogy published. I have to congratulate her in the most strong and possible terms in relation to her selection by Harper Collins and I wish her the very best. In fact, Jennifer Fallen has become a friend of mine over recent times. I have had the joy of enjoying her friendship and being able to read the first 2 books in their unpublished state. Indeed, they lay next to my bedside table and I read them page by page off A4 sized sheets. I enjoyed those books immensely, I must say, and I look forward to the third and final book in that trilogy and proof reading that one as well.

Jennifer Fallon has been working for some time on this book and a lot of questions get often asked of her from time to time as to why and how she ended up writing fantasy novels. Certainly fantasy novels which are indeed good enough to be published by a noted and reputable publisher such as Harper Collins. She enjoys a healthy sense of humour and in response to the question of where the idea of the demon child trilogy came from, she basically said, 'I have a strange mind that acts like a little boiling pot and the idea just popped to the surface - sometimes when I need them, frequently when I don't.

Her book markedly changed from the original indeed. There were 7 major characters, an entire race of people, deleted from her original version of the book. The book was a very complex work and the publisher asked her to simplify the work and indeed she chose to, and I found that the book was still very enjoyable. Indeed, having not read the original version, I'm not in a position to be able to say whether it was an improvement or not.

She takes several different ways of naming her characters. Her first is the ever popular fantasy technique called, 'spell a normal name in a funny manner so it looks alien' ie. Alan becomes Halen and Bill becomes Bile and Kate becomes Cait. The second method she uses is the, 'hit the keyboard and see what happens' method. She doesn't recommend it unless you can find an easy way to pronounce KSUYAWRNSQL. The third method that she uses, 'borrowing names from people she knows' preferably with their permission. A reader will pick up the names of children and dogs and cats and other sorts of animals that she raises and are indeed the kids that she coaches in gymnastics. Indeed, I am aware of a race of people in her book which are named after somebody who is working in the Minister for Health's office at the moment. And Harshini, I hope, will enjoy working in the minister's office.

The fourth method she uses involves brain storming with teenagers around the house at night, and she's a sort of a drop-in centre, amongst other things, for teenagers in Alice Springs. I've been to her house on several occasions when the place was absolutely crawling with teenagers. Rather than reaching for the Baygon, she welcomes them into her home, and it's always a lively place. She also goes on to say in terms of making up names of characters that she was coming up or working on the names of Hythrun warlords and she told me she wanted those names combined with a creditable weapon, such as one of the characters that appear in the book Lord Wolfblade. She rejected several names, Lord Snappingturtle-baretta34 and Lord Guineapig-Kitchenknife.

When she's asked how long it took her to write the book Medalon she replies '20 years'. Well, in fact, I know it's a little bit less than that but basically she took her about 2 years. However, I know that in her more recent times, her enthusiasm for writing, now that she's going to be a published author, has taken hold and she is producing work at a staggering pace. Indeed, she is already working on her second trilogy.

When she's quizzed about which character is most like her, she basically admits that there's a little bit of her in all of them, which is a bit of a worry but she would like to say that she was like R'shiel or Adrina in her work but she emphasises they are much more decisive and gorgeous than Jenny, and not a fact I'd entirely agree with to be quite frank.

Finally, when she's asked how does she find time to work and write, she basically shrugs her shoulders and says well she basically doesn't sleep, doesn't do housework and neglects her children dreadfully. I know that fact is quite untrue in terms of her neglect of her children at least.

I congratulate Jennifer Fallon on her work and I wish her a successful and very rich career in writing. Those who make it in the world of writing fantasy work, the most famous of course is Tolkien, will make it in a most spectacular way and I wish her every fortune because knowing her personal history, I couldn't think of a person who more richly deserves it.

I would like to turn this evening to another matter, and that is a rather dreadful event which occurred in Holland, the country of my own birth, in the town of Enschede. Enschede is a town near the Dutch-German border. Indeed, it was the birthplace of my father. My half-sister from my father's first marriage served as an alderman on the council there.

Due to an explosion in a fireworks factory in that town, the centre of the town was absolutely flattened over an area of about 2 km2, I am led to believe. I have seen photographs of towns in Holland during World War II, after the German occupation was pushed out, and I was very much put in mind of them by what I saw.

I wish to pass on my sincerest condolences to the people of Enschede. I hope that the Dutch community both in Alice Springs and in Darwin are helping to raise some funds, and I would gladly offer any assistance that I possibly could to that community in raising funds and helping the people of Enschede.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would allow me to make some brief comments in Dutch.

Motion agreed to.

Mr ELFERINK: Ik zou gaarne van deze gelegenheid gebruik maken om van mijn diepe sympathie te getuigen voor de stad Enschede, de geboortestad van mijn vader, die zo'n verschrikkelijke ramp heeft ondergaan. Als iemand, die do ravages van Cycloon Tracy heeft doorstaan, begrijp ik ten volste de gevoelans van wanhoop en verlies. Ik hoop dat de stad spoedig. Zal herrijzen en mijn gedachten zijn met U allen. (I wish to take this opportunity to express my deep sympathy for the people of the city of Enschede, the birthplace of my father, after this terrible calamity. I empathise as a person who has experienced the destruction of a town when Darwin was razed by Cyclone Tracy. I understand the desperation and the sense of loss felt. I hope that the city will recover soon and my thoughts are with you all.)