Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

You may not be aware, but Lismore is the home of the oldest Lions services club in Australia. It was founded on 29 September 1947. To mark the club's 20th anniversary on 29 September 1967, the club gave the Lismore community what is known as the Lions Fountain. To this day it sits outside City Hall and over the years has been the backdrop for many things—wedding photos and the like. To mark its 50th birthday in 1997, the Lions paid for the fountain to be fully refurbished. Unfortunately time, and its associated wear and tear, does not stand still and the future of the fountain is again in doubt. But the Lismore City Lions Club and many others across the community are determined not to lose this iconic landmark. A Support the Fountain rally and barbecue will be held on 25 October to raise funds to repair and restore the fountain.

I would like to thank the members of the Lismore City Lions Club for the work they are doing to save the fountain. This includes Nancy Casson, Phil Budgeon, Murray Cooper, Doug Daymond, John Gable, Debbie Grant, Linda Irons, John Jacobson, Marnie Johnston, Michael Krueger, Christine Lewis, John Lynch, Donna Needham, George Puvinayagam, Bruce Sheaffe, John Slater, Bill Watts, Jacky Wells, Noel Wilson and Suzanne Warmerdam. I acknowledge and thank the Lismore City Lions Club.

I would also like to acknowledge Matt Tresise who has done a lot of work building support for this project from Lions clubs across Australia. Matt is the son of Bill Tresise, the founder of Lions in Australia and the person who presented the fountain to council all those years ago. Well done, Lismore City Lions Club.

Last weekend in the coastal town of Yamba, the not-for-profit organisation Live Prawn held the Coldstream arts and cultural festival. It attracted over 3½ thousand locals and tourists. It was a great success and all accommodation providers have told me that demand was extremely high. As part of engaging with the community, all the primary schools of the Lower Clarence were represented in various performances. Aside from sporting events, it is the only time you would see all the Lower Clarence schools together as one.

This no-alcohol family day was first held in 2005 and has been held ever since. After this year's successful event, organisers now plan to make it an annual event that not only targets locals but also tourists as a way of benefiting local businesses and the town's economy. More than 150 volunteers freely gave of their time to make the festival the success it is. I would particularly like to acknowledge Phil Nicholas, the festival's producer and director; the treasurer, Grant Jennings; the production site manager, Gary Brisbane; and the community liaison officer, Kira Muegee. Congratulations to everyone involved with the festival.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience at Southern Cross University in Lismore, where I presented student Mitch Kirby with the organisation's Mentor of the Year award. AIME is a terrific organisation that mentors Indigenous high school students, encouraging them to stay on at school and progress to university. Its underlying message is that education can give you a future. We have all heard the depressing figures about the very high rate of dropouts from high school. But let me share with you two of AIME's success stories. Alec Barker and Karri Williams, who both go to Evans River K-12, started the program three years ago when they were in year 9. This year, they are their school's captains, a wonderful achievement. Alec's sister, Teela, said: 'AIME had a real impact on Alec. He's grown up, become a real leader and is making his people proud. I wish I had AIME when I was at school.'

Programs like AIME are a very practical way that we can help to close the gap between our Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. About 90 students from Southern Cross University mentor 300 Aboriginal high school students studying on the Northern Rivers, and I would like to thank the mentors, who give up five days to get training to talk to their younger counterparts about kindness, resilience, goal setting and expressing their dreams and aspirations. I would also like to congratulate Patrick Orme, who is the local regional manager of the program after being one of the first volunteers to complete the program a few years ago, as well as the AIME staff: Tom Wensley, Teela Barker, Tom Avery, Jake Thomson, Pat Templeman and Richard Mockler.

I would also like to acknowledge seven local students who were selected in the top 50 for AIME's Got Game competition. Over 2,000 Indigenous students across Australia participated. The competition encouraged students to showcase a hidden talent, whether it be hip-hop, dancing or singing. There were a massive seven contestants selected in the top 50 from the Northern Rivers and another two selected from Grafton: Maddy Ellem, from South Grafton High School, and Travis O'Connor, in the Coffs program. If these students get voted in the top 10, they will be flown down to Sydney to perform at the AIME gala ball in November and be involved in the 2015 AIME anthem, written and performed by the students. The students are George Johnson, from Southern Cross in Ballina; Taita Thaiday, from Nimbin Central School; Jasmine Laurie, from Alstonville; Khawana Roberts, from Alstonville; Iesha Torrens, from Alstonville; Luke Clague, from Maclean; and Emily Anderson, from Maclean. Special mention should also be made of Isaachar Fraser, of Casino High School, who read her speech outlining her vision for Australia as the first Indigenous Prime Minister, which I heard, and an inspiring speech it was.

Later this month, the Lismore train station will be brought back to life with a spectacular outdoor theatre event, Railway Wonderland, created by our local theatre company, NORPA. NORPA regularly stages high-quality theatre productions at its home, the Lismore City Hall, over two or three nights, but Railway Wonderland is very different. It will run over three weeks with 15 shows, a very significant run for a regional city. The creation of NORPA artistic director Julian Louis and Janis Balodis, Railway Wonderland was first produced in a short, sold-out run in March 2012, and now is back with a much longer run due to strong public demand.

This production is employing 60 people, including 55 locals, and was initially assisted with funding in 2012 by the Australia Council, Regional Arts New South Wales and Arts New South Wales. But Railway Wonderland really started in 2009 with a call-out to local writers to submit short stories about train stations, which were then performed at the Byron Bay Writers Festival. Local historians, university researchers, RailCorp staff, the local community, train enthusiasts and lobby groups have all contributed to the show's development. NORPA have created an entire experience around the show, with the station platform acting as a stage and the audience sitting on the train lines.

It is show season. It is wonderful that, as part of all the agricultural shows in our region, we have showgirls who put themselves up to become Miss Showgirl. I would just like to acknowledge some of the showgirls in our region. In Lismore, Holly Cameron, Kelly Bryant, Catlin Jaeger, Lauren Curry, Gabriella Ellen-Robinson and Mikayla Bruggy put their hands up to compete in the competition. In Casino, there were Scout Symons, Laura Clapham, Ruby Webster and Caitlin Bailey. In Alstonville, there were Maddison Grey, Bethany Lock, Brooke Convery, Sarah Suvrack and Brodie Goodhand. In Grafton, there were Jacinta Davis, Kelsie Consadine, Martika Field, Fiona Green and Brooke Lancaster. In Kyogle, there were Jenna Jones and Kimberly Langley. In Maclean, there were Taylah Power-Casson, Lucy Essex, Aimee Martin and Amy Stephenson. I congratulate all these wonderful young ladies for putting their hands up and participating in such a wonderful event.

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