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

On 20 February I visited the St George Men's Shed in its new premises down at Carss Park. The shed is a really important group in our local community, providing the opportunity for fellowship—for men to come together and work on a whole range of projects. Many of our local schools, community groups and others benefit from the industry of the gentlemen at the men's shed. The former Kogarah council, now Georges River Council, is to be commended for its cooperation with the shed in finding the new premises at Carss Park when the previous premises, at Penshurst, were no longer available. Kogarah council certainly did a very good job in facilitating that. I would like to thank the secretary of the shed, Pat Murray; the president, Bernie Dolan; and all the gentlemen I chatted with on the day. It is always good to visit, and it was particularly good to see the gentlemen from the shed in their new premises.

On 23 February I visited the St George Academy of Performing Arts, led by Lucy Lu, who is in charge of the academy, at its Hurstville studio. The academy has grown in recent years and has sites at Hurstville, Carlton—also in the St George area—over at Lidcombe, and in Waterloo as well. It has been in operation since 1998 and teaches dance and musical performance to students from preschool all the way through to university. On the day I was there, there were a number of young ballerinas who had recently completed an important part of their training, and it was good to be able to acknowledge their success. To Lucy and all the parents and kids who are involved in the St George Academy of Performing Arts: congratulations on all your great efforts. I look forward to catching up with you soon.

On 20 February I attended the AGM of the George Bass Trefoil Guild at the Panania Girl Guides' hall. Of course, the Trefoil Guild works very closely with our local Girl Guides in helping the girls as they come through their Girl Guide experience. On the day, year 11 students from Danebank Rachel Hens and Isabel Lynch spoke about their visit to Tanzania as part of a school trip to support the Katoke Trust for Overseas Aid. It was very interesting to hear their presentation. Congratulations to Danebank on that important community involvement. I would also like to thank Val Kemp, president of the guild, and Mrs Gwen Cartwright, who arranged for the girls from Danebank to come and give that presentation, which was very well received. The guild does a great job in our community, and I look forward to visiting again soon.

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