Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Vocational Education) Share this | Hansard source

This week my local area has excelled in science achievement. I couldn't be prouder—and I'm sure the member for Whitlam joins me in that. Last week, one of my wonderful local public schools shone in the Prime Minister's Science Awards. Congratulations to Neil Bramsen and Mount Ousley Public School, winners of the Prime Minister's science prize for primary science teaching. A very proud local MP and the school's principal, Peter Holmes, were in the Great Hall of Parliament House to celebrate one of our great public schools achieving such wonderful recognition. Neil Bramsen instigated the outdoor classroom at Mount Ousley. Students record bird sightings, study the beach and assess levels of marine debris, or read and think in the butterfly garden. They have also talked to astronauts on the International Space Station and made global connections, through Skype, with schools in Africa and America.

At the beginning of this week, Professor Gordon Wallace, an outstanding scientist and leader from the University of Wollongong, was announced as the 2017 New South Wales Scientist of the Year for his groundbreaking work on implantable 3D printed structures containing living cells to regenerate damaged cartilage, bones and even organs. And Gordon paid great tribute to his whole team in receiving the award. We are very proud of them. My sincere congratulations go to Neil Bramsen and Gordon Wallace, leading in science from Wollongong.

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