Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The horrendous bushfires in Victoria and the devastation that they have wrought have caused great concern throughout the community. There was a great sense of hopelessness yet a strong feeling that every person throughout Australia wanted to contribute and help in some way. I think the TV coverage made it so real and brought it into everybody’s living room. My office—and, I am sure, the office of every member of this House—was contacted by numerous people wishing to do something. Because of this massive uprising in the community, I decided to organise a fundraiser. The fundraiser was initially planned for the first weekend after the bushfires but, unfortunately, unlike Victoria, we had torrential rain and the fundraiser had to be postponed, instead being held last Sunday.

It was an enormous success, with nearly $17,000 being raised. It was a whole-of-com-munity response. I want to take this opportunity to thank those people that were involved in this fundraising event. I was supported by the state member for Swansea, Robert Coombs; the Mayor of Lake Macquarie, Greg Piper; the Belmont Chamber of Commerce; Belmont Rotary; Swansea Lions Club; Red Cross; and the Salvation Army. They all played an organising role in the event that took place, along with my staff members Kathy Tudor and Mark Raper. I have to give special mention to Steve Smith, the CEO of Austereo. Dr Dave, from Austereo’s KO-FM and NX-FM, came along and was the commentator on the day. They gave enormous support, as did all media. We also had support from ABC Radio, Animal Crackers, Belmont Amcal Pharmacy, Belmont Bunnings, Belmont Cake Shop and Belmont Citi Centre, and I would particularly like to mention the efforts of Barbara Davis, who is a dynamo. When Barbara gets behind anything, it is a great success.

We also had support from Belmont Coles, Belmont Copy Centre, Brian Beesley, Belmont Ministers Association, Father Clive Gerard and the New South Wales Fire Brigade, Belmont Station. We also had support from the Rural Fire Service from Nords Wharf; Grant Hampton from Belmont Retravision, who donated a flat-screen TV for a raffle; Belmont Rotary Club; Belmont Quality Meats; Belmont Woolworths; Blondies Hair Salon; BNP Security; Caffe Macquarie; Caves Beach Butcher; Caves Beach Hotel; Chris Osborne; Clan McEwan Pipe Band; Community First Credit Union; Companion Credit Union; Darbys Swansea; Deck 56; Balcony Restaurant and Swill & Grill at the Gunyah Hotel; Hollebone Meats; In2Sport Belmont; Jim Cowburn; Joe’s Wood-Fired Pizza; Kaylah Anne Farmer; Kennards Hire, Lambton; Kennards Hire, Warners Bay; Kevin’s Meats; Lake Macquarie City Council, who donated the park free of charge for the day; Joe Rowbottom at Lakeside Real Estate; Lakes United Rugby League Club; Logic Hair Design; Marks Point Hair Salon; Marks Point Newagency; Marks Point Post Office; Marks Point Takeaway; Mayfair Jewellers; Swansea Mega Mania; Milano’s Restaurant; Murrays Meat Swansea; Newcastle Jets Football Club; Newcastle Knights Rugby League Club; Newcastle Permanent Building Society; Newcastle Star Newspaper; Nextra Newsagency; Pelican JetBuzz Jet Boats; Rusty Springfield; Sesames on the Lake; Showcase Jewellers; Squid’s Ink; Soup & Song; Spotlight Newcastle; Sun Patch Gift & Kitchenware; Swansea Chamber of Commerce; Swansea Coles; Swansea Lions Club; Swansea RSL Club; Swansea Workers Club; 2HD/NewFM; Ultimate Style Hairdressers; Uproar; Viktoria’s Shoes; Westpac Bank; Warren Ure Jazz Band; Bill Charlton and Robyn Bowman Charlton; and Mark Wison. All these people gave donations and contributed in some way to this very successful day.

The success of the day was because it was a whole-of-community event. Everybody in the community got behind it. Businesses donated prizes and sausages for the sausage sizzle, and Mega Mania donated a jumping castle and fun activities free of charge. It was an outstanding success. It was a comment on what a wonderful community I am privileged to represent in this parliament.

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