Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate everyone involved in making the Cancer Council Relay for Life at Redcliffe a tremendous success last weekend. My team, the Petrie Possums, and I donned our walking shoes again on 27 and 28 October, joining a total of 23 teams at the Mary Nairn Field in Redcliffe. In a mammoth effort, teams raised well over $50,000, with almost $53,000 having been banked by the start of the relay and more to come.

I would like to thank my teammates, who endured gale-force winds and rain for many hours over the weekend. But our sleepless night was worth every cent. I would like to thank our sponsors Redcliffe Leagues Club, the Australian Workers Union, Ballycara Retirement Village, Rotary Sunrise Redcliffe, Helen-Maree Butler, Quota International North Lakes, Workplace Solutions, Redcliffe Kippa-Ring Lions, the Lioness Club of Redcliffe Central and Runtime Design. Together we raised over $5,000 this year for the Cancer Council of Queensland, bringing the total raised by the Petrie Possums to over $30,000 since the Redcliffe event began in 2008.

Relay for Life is about fighting back against cancer. Teams walk in a relay for 18 hours from three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon to nine o'clock the next morning. We celebrate cancer survivors, remember lost friends and raise money for research to help future battlers. I am honoured to be the patron of the Redcliffe Relay for Life and I would like to sincerely congratulate the committee on a job well done in 2012—our biggest event yet. I would like to particularly acknowledge Redcliffe RSL's support for this event.

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