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

The electorate of Fisher's greatest assets are its people and their passion for giving back to our community. I saw that passion at the recent endED Main Event, where more than 100 Sunshine Coast locals came to support Mark and Gayle Forbes and their pioneering charity. As thousands were raised through auctions and raffles, we heard an incredibly moving reading from Gayle and got an update on the progress of Australia's first residential facility for eating disorders, endED Butterfly House.

I saw the coast's community spirit again at the 30th Anniversary Grand Winter Ball for STEPS, a terrific Sunshine Coast organisation providing cutting-edge support for people living with disability all over Australia. More than 550 tickets for this event sold out in just weeks, while 20 local businesses provided sponsorship helping to rise tens of thousands of vital dollars for this innovative charity.

Finally, I saw that spirit most movingly at the Gift of Music Concert for Kayleen. Coast music legend Barry Bull and his wife Kayleen had been organising a concert in support of childhood hearing impairment charity Hear and Say for the past three years, already raising more than $30,000. But after Kayleen sadly passed away last year during the event, Barry was determined to keep her work alive. One hundred and fifty locals shared in that tribute, raised thousands more for vulnerable children and showed, once again, that Fisher truly is a community of communities.

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