Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a fantastic initiative for young people designed to encourage and motivate Territorians. Last week I had the pleasure of attending a function at Government House to recognise 16 outstanding Territorians. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is open to all young people aged between 14 and 25. It offers a fun-filled package of activities over a set period of time. The program is entirely voluntary and is designed so that participants can undertake activities suited to their own interests and passions. There are three levels to the Duke of Edinburgh Awards: the gold, silver and bronze. As I said, 16 young Territorians became the newest recipients of this award. The silver awardees included Kacy Brennan, Lucy Campbell, Gypsy Cass, Ashley Dougan, Louise Forster, Katrina Fritz, Liam Hardcastle, Rebecca Hell, Joel Kay, Rangi McLennan, Georgina Nefiodavis, Monique Smith and my very good friend Alex McInnis from Henbury School. The gold recipients, also from Henbury School, were James Morrison, Christos Timotheou and Amanda Hintz. The event was very special for Amanda, who had recently turned 18. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to acknowledge the hard work of young Territorians, and I praise the people involved for encouraging these kids to be involved in this program, which teaches the kids to learn beyond the classroom and to serve the community.

Tahnee Afuhaamango is another very special person in our electorate. She is a remarkable young lady and I have mentioned her before in this place. This young woman inspires me and my whole electorate. Tahnee is someone I have known since 2008, and she is a determined young lady. She currently holds 20 Down syndrome swimming world records, and Great Britain is currently ratifying a further two world records. Tahnee started her swimming career after the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She was inspired to join a club and squad and dedicated each year to training. Her hard work paid off in 2006, when she travelled to Ireland to compete at an international level. She swam for Australia in 2008 in Portugal and again in 2010 in Taiwan. Tahnee is currently in training to represent Australia again in Italy in November of this year. Tahnee considers herself to be a role model for people with Down syndrome, and her motto is, 'Never say never.'

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