I was delighted to host the Tasmanian Parliament’s first ever garage sale today to promote the Garage Sale Trail which is taking place on Saturday, 25 October 2014.

The national campaign aims to promote reuse and recycling, reduce landfill and facilitate fundraising by encouraging households, schools and community organisations to hold a garage sale.

I have chosen CanTeen as the recipient of all proceeds raised at today’s event, to assist the charity to provide vital support services to Tasmanian youth with cancer.

More than 170 garage sales have been registered in Tasmania with over 250,000 items listed for reuse, with an estimated value of almost $200,000.

The beauty of the Garage Sale Trail is that it not only provides participants with the opportunity to make a few dollars, either for themselves or for others such as CanTeen, but it also fosters new connections in the community, all while helping the environment.

For the Parliament House Garage Sale, items I donated included a set of port glasses bearing the House of Assembly emblem and port unearthed from the depths of my Speaker’s Dining Room, a Michael Hodgman state election campaign corflute signed by the Premier, Will Hodgman, and a signed Australian Boomers’ Team cap.

The diverse array of items on offer also included:

• A football signed by AFL legend Darrel Baldock, donated by Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff;
• A signed state election campaign t-shirt of Premier Will Hodgman;
• Jim Bacon campaign fundraising wine labels from 1994 donated by Labor MP Scott Bacon;
• An original Rainbow Warrior poster and home-grown succulents from Greens MP Cassy O’Connor;
• Two seats from the House of Assembly prior to the Chamber’s most recent renovation, donated by Minister Rene Hidding;
• Two Huon Pine pens crafted by inmates in the Tasmanian Prison System donated by Minister Michael Ferguson;
• A generous collection of books from Labor MP Lara Giddings;
• A ‘Future is Green’ poster and signed Same Sex Marriage Bill 2005 from Greens MP Nick McKim;
• A pair of red chairs donated by Attorney General and Minister Vanessa Goodwin;
• A signed copy of ‘Up River – Untold stories of the Franklin River activists’ and wine from Greens MP Kim Booth;
• A t-shirt donated by Minister Jacquie Petrusma;
• A 2004 Coal River Sauvignon Blanc from Parliamentary Secretary Guy Barnett;
• Daffodils donated by MLC Adriana Taylor; and
• Many, many more items gratefully accepted from MPs and their staff.

To register garage sale go to www.garagesaletrail.com.au.
Elise Archer, Speaker of the House of Assembly