Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the really rewarding aspects of my job—and our jobs collectively here as members of parliament—is to get around our electorates and meet some of the great community minded people who make our areas, and in my case the Deakin electorate, such a wonderful place to live. The schools in the Deakin electorate are absolutely no exception to this and are replete with very community minded people. Recently, during fete season, as I call it, in Melbourne, with the beautiful Melbourne spring weather, I had the privilege of being able to join a number of schools in celebrating in their local fairs and fetes. On most occasions, I try to do a couple of hours stint on the barbecue, and I have become quite an expert at churning out some pretty good sausages. These occasions are a terrific opportunity for the whole community, as well as the school community, to come together to have some fun and, very importantly, for these schools to raise important funds at the same time.

I want to take this opportunity today to mention as many of the people as I possibly can who have been involved in putting together these fetes and fairs. The hard work and the organisation involved is quite immense in many cases, and the amount of money raised for these schools is huge. At St Timothy's Primary School in Vermont this year, the principal, Anne-Maree Jones, was very ably assisted by Mary Italiano, Marina McKenna, Kathryn Fitt, Rebecca Cheevers, Jason Footes, Mark Phelan, Steff Henderson, Jacqui Ackland, Scott Savage, Dominic Sherlock, Simon Rodwell, Ryan McCann, Sharon Burkitt, Mark Poldermans, Shayne Friffins and of course Father Rod Pitts. I want to thank each of them.

From the Holy Spirit Community Fete, I would like to acknowledge the work of Louise Downes, Martin Collins, Dale Sebire, Mark Johnstone, Peter Philp, Sharon Wolff, Alicia Keane, Sharon Garcia, Robyn Wortel, Karina Meehan, Anthony Downes, Nicole Lazarus, Mary Barnao, Yvette Collins, Sarah Postill, Tina Toomey, Annette Romijn, Natasha Knight, Lisa-Jane Sebire, Adam Stone, Sonya Pote, Julie Vendel, Trina May, Greg Pollard, Christine Conroy, Moon Houston, Ruth Frangeskakis, Peter Camilleri, Belinda Semos, Marisa Smeed and Des Turner. That is a huge fete and many people are involved.

From St Thomas the Apostle's Springtime Fair, I want to acknowledge and recognise the efforts of Liz Bailley, Sarino Miano, Shelley Campbell and all of the other countless members of the community who contributed.

At Blackburn Primary School, Kate Turner of the Parents and Friends Association was assisted by Fiona Vandenberg, Claudelle Heeraman, Kate Fuller, Jodie Dyt Inston, Stella O'Connell, Connie Kormas and Lee Cozens. Well done; it was a wonderful fete.

In Mitcham, the St Johns Primary School Fete was again a huge fete. It was put together by chairperson and good friend of mine Andrew Russell, and included a wide range of stalls staffed by Frank Cittarelli, Michelle Plant, Scott Taylor, Caroline Russell, Melissa Greenwood, Adam Puls, Kate Lafferty, Maryanne Tully and Anna Datoy as well as many of the hardworking staff at the school. Congratulations again. I thoroughly enjoyed having a beer with Father Reynolds too at that fete.

The Sacred Heart Primary School also put together a fete by their Parents and Friends Committee, which included Brian Grace, Emily Gurr, Paul Heffernan, Scott Hartshorn and Sally Smith along with many others.

The Tinternvale Primary School fete this year was again organised by Kerrie Anderson, principal, with the assistance of committee members Sue Pettit, Vicki Butler, Paula Llewellyn, Jo Wood and of course countless others.

Livingstone Primary School's was put together by a committee convened by Jenny Reidy with the support of her team, Denice Mayson, Jill Daniel, Ping Lee, Amelia Chin, Helen Georgitsopoulos, Jaimie Clarke, Olivia Moore, Miriam Balis, Dina Barbagiannis and Emma Freeman.

Finally, there was the fantastic fete of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ringwood. Angela Lacey, outgoing principal, did an absolute power of work, as she always does, and was again supported by Nicole Lewino and a large committee who put together this wonderful event for our community every year.

I want to acknowledge and get all of those people on the record, because each of them goes above and beyond the call of duty in making these events happen. In many cases for the parents and volunteers involved in these school fetes, their children are long gone from the school, but they have remained there to support the school community, provide a wonderful opportunity for us to all come together and, really importantly, raise much-needed funds for our school. Thank you very much from the Australian government.

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