Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to announce two pieces of positive news. First and foremost, like most of my colleagues, I have been going around to see many Building the Education Revolution projects, celebrating their openings and celebrating the investment in those fantastic projects. Recently I was at East Ulverstone Primary School, Forth Primary School—my local village primary school—and West Ulverstone Primary. Around $6 million has been invested in a number of projects associated with these primary schools, part of nearly $100 million invested in my region’s 63 schools with some 95 projects. So I want to congratulate everyone involved with those projects and the many more in my electorate. It is positive news—investment in jobs and fantastic facilities for teaching and learning. And these are projects that are available to the community. This is all very good and positive news.

The second thing I would like to do is congratulate a fantastic individual in my electorate—Burnie policeman Senior Constable Ian Edwards. Ian has of course in no sense ever sought this, but he has been awarded a Tasmanian outstanding achiever award and most recently the local hero award for Tasmania. He is now in line for the Australia award. In his role in the police force, Ian has put together a group called Kommunity Kids that is based in Shorewell Park in Burnie.

Shorewell Park, unfortunately, has had a stigmatised history for violence, antisocial behaviour and alienation. It is a community that has felt at times to be under siege. Part and parcel of that has been the antisocial behaviour of young people, a lot of which was because, along with a number of their parents, they felt that they were not part of a fully functioning community.

Ian saw the need there and, along with a number of his colleagues, set up an outreach of the Burnie Police and Community Youth Committee and the Tasmanian Police Youth Intervention Committee. Kommunity Kids came together on 21 May 2008 with about eight children. Since then it has grown to at least 120 kids with anywhere from 23 to 50 young persons and their parents and friends joining in the weekly after-school activities, including art and craft in the community house nearby on Tuesdays and outdoor activities and sport on Wednesdays. I know they get pretty active because I have been up to join them on a number of occasions.

Kommunity Kids also participate in a number of other activities throughout the year, including Tasmania Day events, the Big Burnie Bike Ride at West Park and miscellaneous school holiday events. The Kommunity Kids board, with Ian Edwards as chairman, is made up of members from City Mission, Burnie Community House, Tasmania Police, Fusion, Anglicare who, together with the Burnie City Council Youth Development Officer, actively assist in the after-school activities.

A group of young people are also part of a committee to raise funds for a cycle path in the local park. I must congratulate the Burnie City Council, along with Ian and Kommunity Kids, for getting an investment of $50,000 towards linking up their pathways at Shorewell across through to Wiseman Park, and they are using these pathways as road safety teaching areas. The kids can have a bit of fun learning about road safety by riding on these pathways and they also have a barbecue and shelter area they can use for their activities.

Ian is a very humble man and has been quite startled by the awards that have been presented to him. I know he does this because he loves the kids, he loves the area he lives in and he is very dedicated to his community. I congratulate him; I thank him on behalf of the community and I wish him well in the national awards. I have a sneaking feeling that Ian Edwards and Kommunity Kids will be bringing back the bacon to Shorewell Park, which they have really transformed into a very positive community. (Time expired)

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