Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud that the Moreton Australia Day Awards have become a feature of the community calendar on Brisbane's south side. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the awards, we had a wonderful ceremony at Robertson Gardens, right in the heart of Moreton. These awards celebrate the spirit of volunteerism in our local community. There are a number of Moreton Australia Day Award recipients, and then we also announced the Sir James Killen community service award. Again this year we were fortunate to have Lady Benise Killen attend to present this special award.

This year the recipient of the Sir James Killen award was Joan McGrath. For the last 14 years, Joan has been the Treasurer of the Salisbury-Moorooka St Vincent de Paul Conference. Joan has been the touchpoint for many locals, from Moorooka, Rocklea, Annerley and Salisbury, experiencing hardship. Her role involved coordinating the resources to maximise assistance with rent, utilities, food vouchers, school resources and much more for those locals that need a helping hand.

Joan still lives in the family house in Moorooka. It was built in 1932 on land that has been in her family since 1893, so she's almost a local! Not surprisingly, Joan has also dedicated much of her time to the local history group. Further evidence of her commitment to social justice and building community is Joan's work with the local refugee community in Moorooka. Again, through St Vincent de Paul, Joan participated in local settlement services to provide support, advocacy and information to some of our newest Australians. We are so privileged to have Joan in my community. She is a very deserving recipient of this award.

Other Moreton Australia Day Award recipients this year were Lisa Briggs from the Sherwood Australian Breastfeeding Association; Brian Tovey from Oxley Neighbourhood Watch—

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