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

On Saturday, 13 February, I attended the 25th Lake Macquarie Sports Awards. The event was held at the Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club and recognised the enormous contribution that a number of people have made to a variety of sports and across a number of areas in Lake Macquarie. Lake Macquarie has a very proud sporting record and has been the home of many Australian representatives in various sports.

During the year, the Lake Macquarie Sports Council recognises all sporting achievers on a monthly basis, and some 391 people were recognised in 2009. The finalists all get a medal and those people who are successful receive awards across a number of categories. This year, the Norm Johnson Memorial Administrator of the Year went to Robert Holland for the sport of cricket. I am sure everyone knows about his achievements as a player and an Australian representative in cricket, but he has also put 42 consecutive years into the administration of the Southern Lakes District Cricket Club, and this award for his outstanding contribution was well earned.

There is an award for an athlete with a disability—it is a scholarship—and that went to Troy Puttergill for the sport of swimming. Prior to becoming a member of parliament, I worked with Troy in a different capacity. He is a young man who has autism and he has been an outstanding athlete in the area of swimming. He has won four gold medals and one silver medal in the Special Olympics. He has won New South Wales gold. He has represented Australia in a number of swimming meets. And he can swim just about as fast as our competitors in other areas.

The Junior Female Sportsperson of the Year was Rachel Jones from the sport of BMX. The junior female encouragement award went to Aliza Huff. The junior male sporting award went to Tony Iacconi and the junior male encouragement award went to Shaun Swadling. The masters sporting award went to Jennifer Enderby and the Sportsperson of the Year went to Nathan Outteridge for his outstanding performance in the sport of sailing. I commend these fantastic achievements to the House. And I would like to table this document that details the achievements of all these people. (Time expired)

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