Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would have thought the member for Gellibrand might want to consider a few things there, Deputy Speaker Irons. Today I'd like to congratulate the Glenugie boxing brothers, Logan and Mason Slis. Logan is 15 and Mason is 13, and they both won their respective weight classes at the Boxing New South Wales state championships earlier this month. They will now represent New South Wales at the Australian titles in Perth. For Logan, this marks his third consecutive state title win—a great achievement. Congratulations to both of these brothers, and I wish them all the best of luck at the Australian titles.

Local fisherman Bryce Ellis put his own life at risk when he went to the aid of seven tourists who were caught in a rip on Yamba's Main Beach. Bryce had been fishing on the beach and was leaving when he noticed the group had been swept out to deep water by the rip. He immediately returned to the water and swam out to the group, where he grabbed two of them and took them to nearby rocks. After making sure that they were okay, he returned to the deep water and continued to rescue the remaining swimmers. As he did this, the now rescued swimmers made their way back to the beach, where they were met by Lachlan Major. Lachlan had been attending a staff party at the Yamba Shores Tavern. He was dressed appropriately as Baywatch lifesaver David Hasselhoff. Lachlan was then able to help the swimmers all the way to safety, while Bryce continued his deepwater efforts. In Lachlan's words:

He—

Bryce—

did all the heavy lifting.

Lachlan also said that Bryce:

… did an incredible job and should be commended for how quick he acted.

I thank Bryce and Lachlan and all the others who assisted in that rescue.

Nola York has been helping the community of Glenreagh donate to charity for nearly 20 years. Eighty-one-year-old Nola converts the front three rooms of her home, which is part of the old bakery, into a series of caves and passages full of colour and thousands of toys and hundreds of Christmas lights and other decorations. Nola spends the two months leading up to Christmas preparing her home for the many hundreds of people who come to look at the display. Nola has a donation tin so that visitors can make a donation, which she then passes on to the Mid North Coast Cancer Institute.

Nola began her association with the institute when her late husband, Ron, was diagnosed with cancer. Locals like Bessie Webb are behind Nola, who is also well supported by the local community and the visitors from afar, including many repeat visitors. Nola is a very special person in our community, and I would like to thank her for her outstanding community spirit. I know that the patients and staff of the Mid North Coast Cancer Institute are very appreciative of her dedication.

See this speech in context