Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge the outstanding achievement of two senior-school choirs in the Fadden electorate. The first is the Labrador State School choir, conducted by Mr Hank Lewerissa, which will be opening the Armor All Gold Coast 600 V8 supercar race this Saturday in the podium track precinct in magnificent Surfers Paradise. They will perform the national anthem live on Channel 7 at 1.30 pm this Saturday. It will be broadcast to over 27 million viewers worldwide, including seven million viewers in Australia alone. Mr Lewerissa and his senior choir, who I understand are all quite rightly a little nervous and anxious but excited at the same time, were chosen joint winners with the AB Paterson College choir—conducted by Mrs Candace Kruger—of the Gold Coast Schools Star Search run by V8 Supercars Australia. Labrador State School will perform on Saturday and AB Paterson on Sunday. Labrador State School is the only state school in Australia to have received such an honour. Each school received a cheque for $3,000 from V8 Supercars Australia. This is an outstanding achievement for both senior-school choirs as they have worked extremely hard. I for one am very proud of each and every one of them and I congratulate conductors Mr Lewerissa and Mrs Kruger for their dedication, time and effort.

Let me give you a little of the background of both schools so that you too can appreciate what they have achieved. At the Labrador State School you will see playgrounds for both young and old. You will hear children swimming in a heated pool. You will feel a sense of joy, as I do, in seeing how children’s learning needs, academically, physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially, are met by a professional, committed staff. You will be thrilled to be an audience and listen to the junior and senior choirs. You too will marvel at the skill of the stage, junior and senior instrumental bands. As you walk into the school you will sense children playing in a happy, friendly and safe way.

You will also sense the respect the community has for the ANZACs and the Indigenous culture on the Gold Coast. You will join me in being excited about the facilities and grounds this school has to offer, so much of them by way of the hard work of the teachers and the P&C. You will love the way the school has regular celebrations of success in its large community hall. As you walk past the classrooms you will hear a hum of kids learning. You will be excited to see technology in the classrooms. And in the distance you will see a group of parents actively using the parent room. You will be amazed at the number of volunteer parents supporting the children in the classroom. You see, at Labrador, they care not only for the children but for the whole family and the school community, which is an incredible credit to Principal Brian Ragh and his dedicated staff.

Likewise, at AB Paterson College, which aims to be a school developing young men and women of character as leaders now and for the future, you will come across a school pursuing excellence. The college strives to achieve everything through challenging and supporting students to develop the intellectual character necessary to become passionate about the ongoing pursuit of learning, to have the skills and confidence to succeed in an increasingly complex world and to become committed to creating positive futures for the good of all through leadership and active participation in their communities. The mission of the college under the great leadership of Dawn Lang is to challenge the individual to achieve and to act with purpose and character.

They are both great schools with excellent principals and teaching staff. They both deserve the rich reward that this weekend will bring as they sing at the great event on the Gold Coast. It is certainly my pleasure to acknowledge these two choirs tonight and it is certainly my pleasure to seek leave to table in this place the names of those outstanding conductors and their students so that the nation can also share in my joy at their achievements.

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