David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On Tuesday, 8 March, I attended the St George Football Association's defibrillator presentation at St George Maso's Club. Of course, defibrillators can be used in life-threatening situations following cardiac arrest to seek to revive someone who is suffering a cardiac arrest. They are an extremely important medical device.

Under the federal government's Stronger Communities Program, the St George Football Association will receive just over $10,600 to go towards purchasing defibrillators for football fields in the Banks electorate. The need for defibrillators became extremely apparent in our area following the tragic death of Forest Rangers player Matt Richardson at a local football match in 2014. Forest Rangers Football Club and Lugarno Football Club—led by their presidents, Tony Karahalias and John Taylor—organised in memory of Mr Richardson the inaugural Richo Cup, a round robin competition that raised a substantial amount of funding to purchase defibrillators.

The defibrillators, of course, benefit not only the football clubs that use the grounds but other clubs who will use them as well. We were able, through the Stronger Communities Program, to provide some additional funding so that each St George Football Association field in the Banks electorate will have a defibrillator. That includes fields such as Gannons Park, Oatley Park, Olds Park, Peakhurst Park, Poulton Park, Quarry Reserve, Renown Park and Riverwood Park. I would like to thank Sok Mallios, the president of the St George Football Association, for all of his efforts in lodging this application, and Craig Kiely, the general manager, for their hard work in organising this funding. The St George Football Association, and indeed all of the clubs within it, are a critical part of our community, and I thank them for their ongoing efforts in helping to make our community a more sporting and more cohesive place.

I would also like to acknowledge Sydney Today's fifth anniversary celebration, which I attended on 11 March. Sydney Today is a very large website launched in 2011. It provides news in the Australian and Chinese community right around Australia. It has 700,000 followers on the WeChat platform and has been a remarkable success in the Australian Chinese media. I would like to congratulate executive director Roc Zhang, Mr Stan Chen, and also managing director David Han. Sydney Today provides a remarkable example of a great entrepreneurial success story, and I commend them on their efforts.

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