Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to recognise two very special members of our local community, Noel Collins and David Beards. Noel and David were awarded the National Medal last Saturday at a ceremony hosted at the Narre Warren Country Fire Authority. The National Medal is a very special award established in 1975 and is one of the three elements of the Australian honours system. The National Medal recognises long and diligent service by members of organisations that help our community during tough times. Noel and David have served the local Narre Warren community tirelessly over the years. Both men were presented their medals by CFA board member Mr Peter Marke.

I would like to mention the role that Noel and David’s families have played in supporting and understanding their commitment to the Narre Warren CFA. Noel Collins joined the Narre Warren CFA in 1989 with his wife, Tina. Noel and Tina heard about the brigade through a letterbox drop recruitment drive. Noel and Tina showed great enthusiasm as active members and soon became valuable team members. Noel received the brigade’s Dorothy Balcombe Award in 1991. The award seeks to reward those who contribute to the brigade and represent volunteering at the Narre Warren Fire Brigade. Noel held the position of apparatus officer in 1992 as well as becoming a lieutenant in the same year. Noel completed training in the Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System in 1994 and has since controlled many fire related incidents, including factory fires, house fires and HAZMAT events. He became a PAD instructor in 1996. This allows him to conduct hot fire training sessions at both the South Eastern Training Ground and Fiskville. In 1996 Noel became a workplace assessor and later a workplace trainer. He spends time in training and assessing CFA members in relevant firefighting competencies.

In the time remaining I would like to talk about David Beards. David joined the Bayswater Urban Fire Brigade in 1984 and received several firefighting and commitment awards during his time there. He joined Narre Warren in 1993 after serving nine years with the Bayswater brigade. There were initial concerns about how David would settle into rural brigade life, but not for long as David was instrumental in having Narre Warren reclassified as an urban brigade in 1996. David was first elected as a lieutenant in 1995 and held that position for two years.

In 1994 David joined the CFA as a staff member in the IT department. He is now the manager of technical services within the CFA and thus has also served the CFA as an employee for over 14 years. In 1996 David became a workplace assessor and later in 1998 a workplace trainer. David spends time training and assessing CFA members in relevant firefighting competencies. He was again elected to the position of lieutenant in 2003 and has been the first lieutenant of Narre Warren since that time. During his time as an officer David has held the positions of community safety manager and training officer. He has represented the brigade at municipal fire prevention committee meetings for the City of Casey, as well as being the representative at Fire Brigade Association meetings. Both of these individuals certainly deserve the honour that was given to them last Saturday, as they have served their community with distinction and courage. (Time expired)

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