Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my good friend the member for Berowra for the opportunity to recognise some of our great Australians this year. This year in the electorate of Fisher, the hard work and bravery of our local emergency services personnel was recognised. Mark Campbell of Moffat Beach received the Australian Fire Services Medal. Mr Campbell has more than 30 years experience in the service and has used that experience to benefit the next generation, training new recruits and experienced firefighters alike. SES Sunshine Coast leader Donald Patterson of Twin Waters and Acting Regional Manager of the Central Region SES, Andrew Wyatt, of Caloundra, also received the Emergency Services Medal for their many years of dedicated service.

Along with these great Australians in my electorate of Fisher, we are proud to have the Thompson Institute. I've spoken often in this place about the cutting edge work that is going on there in mental health research and treatment, and about the $5 million that the Turnbull government delivered to support that great work. What I've not spoken about is the man who the Thompson Institute is named after, Roy Thompson. Roy, along with his wife, Nola, are two of the Sunshine Coast's greatest philanthropists.

Like many great Australian stories, Roy's began in humble circumstances: in a single-income family with a father working hard in the local gasworks. Things were not much better for the Thompsons in the 1970s, when Roy and Nola brought up their eight children on a modest builder's wage. But in the end Australia rewards hard work, imagination and commitment. Roy went into real estate and he had a great deal of success creating or transforming a host of Sunshine Coast landmarks, like Chifley's Hotel, along the way.

The list of the Thompsons' contribution to our community is long, but they have focused their generosity on education. To date, they have donated more than $15 million to the University of the Sunshine Coast alone. Their first donations created 150 bursaries, providing regular financial support for students who otherwise would be unable to finish their degrees. Their donations have been as creative as they are generous. They've provided half of the money for a new multistorey car park for the USC as a means of raising further and ongoing funds for scholarships and bursaries. This car park project is predicted to provide $69 million, benefitting more than 1,000 students in the coming years.

Most recently, their $10 million donation for the Thompson Institute, supported by a further $5 million from the federal government, has allowed this cutting-edge facility to be built and to begin treating patients. The facility is now up and running and is just about to take delivery of the next-generation MRI machine which the Thompsons have paid for. This year, the facility is expected to treat 6,000 patients suffering from mental illness as well as making breakthroughs in mental health research. Away from the USC, I can tell the chamber that Roy also provided the land back in the 1980s which allowed the Stella Maris school on the coast to go ahead, and he continues to support Stella Maris's work to this day. I'm delighted to say that, in this year's Australia Day honours Roy was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. On behalf of the people of the Sunshine Coast, I want to congratulate Roy on his well-deserved honour and to thank him again for everything he has done for our community.

For each person who's awarded an honour, there are a great many dedicated volunteers, friends, colleagues and family members who make these achievements possible. I also want to do my bit to recognise those unsung heroes. That's why I've created the Fisher Community Awards. I want to help make the southern and central part of the Sunshine Coast the place to be for education, employment and retirement. My community awards recognise individuals and organisations who are leading the way in making that a reality with their contributions. I'm calling for public nominations for each of my nine categories covering students, teachers, education providers, businesses, employees and innovators, senior community groups and senior service providers. I strongly encourage residents of Fisher to get involved by going to my 'Get Involved' page and nominating someone today.

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