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

I would like to use this time to acknowledge the recipients of Australia Day awards in both the Lake Macquarie City Council area and the Wyong Shire Council area and also the recipients of the Shortland awards that were given on 25 January. The Citizen of the Year in Lake Macquarie was June Cameron, from Warners Bay. She received that award for her contribution to guiding. Deardre Ham was the Volunteer of the Year. She received that award for her commitment to the community and her generosity. The Community Group of the Year in Lake Macquarie was the Delta Society, which takes animals to see people in nursing homes and those who are sick. In Wyong Shire, it was Garry Prince, of Lake Munmorah, who was named the shire’s Citizen of the Year in recognition of his volunteer efforts for local groups.

The 2010 Shortland awards recognise the enormous contribution to the Shortland electorate and, in some cases, our region by a number of people. These awards are given annually, and the awardees are nominated by members of the community. The awards are only given to people who have made outstanding contributions to our community. The winners this year were Robert and Valerie Aspinall, for work on P&C canteens, bushfire brigades, Landcare and knitting for premature babies; Tracey Blair, Sailibility; Mercia Buck, Lake Macquarie City Council, for music and culture; Phil Costello, Windale Public School; Professor James Denham for prostate cancer research, awareness and treatment; Betty Duddle for art society; Peter Field for the Windale school breakfast club and Windale Fresh; Mary Fitzgerald, Windale Public School office support; Una Ford, Pink Ladies—and she is a life member of the United Hospital Auxiliaries; Geoff Fry, a volunteer prostate counsellor, who donated a million dollars to cancer research; Keith Graham for contributions to the Swansea community—

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