Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—At the request of the member for Ryan, I move:

That this House notes that:

(1) membership of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Cadets:

(a) gives young people the opportunity to be members of a team, develop their skills as leaders and develop an individual's capacity to contribute to society; and

(b) fosters an interest in Defence Force careers, and is important in developing ongoing support for Defence; and

(2) ADF Cadets contribute greatly to the community and Australian society.

In my electorate of Lindsay there are over 180 cadets and 22 adult volunteers across three cadet units: Training Ship Nepean in Orchard Hills, 21 Army Cadet Unit in Penrith and 345 Squadron in Orchard Hills. I would like to give a big shout-out to particularly all the new cadets, including my son Coby, who has joined the Army cadets, because I know it has been a particularly tough year to join cadets hey're doing a lot via Zoom, learning about each other and about what it takes to be a cadet. I know that Coby and his fellow cadets can't wait to get out and do their camps, do their training and their parading—everything that joining cadets is about. ADF Cadets is an inclusive youth development program and is the largest within the Department of Defence. It gives young people the opportunity to be part of a team, to develop leadership, self-reliance, confidence, teamwork and communication skills. Although when I did ask Coby what he liked most about cadets, he said, 'everything'. These are crucial to the personal growth of all young Australians, to help them become the next generation of leaders in our communities and in our country. No matter what they go on to pursue in work or study, they will be well equipped with these important skills and character strengths on their way to achieving their goals. Some may go on to foster an interest in pursuing a career in Defence. I would like to acknowledge my colleague next to me and all the work you did in the Defence Force—you were a cadet too—in serving our great country.

Cadets also have the opportunity to embark on new and exciting challenges such as the cybersecurity competition, sponsored by CSIRO, named CyberTaipan. This is an Australian cybersecurity competition that's modelled on the US Air Force Association CyberPatriot program. It is part of an international framework for educating and inspiring high school students towards further education and careers in cybersecurity and other STEM subjects. Anything to do with teaching our young people about STEM and the jobs of the future is worth doing, and we need to do more of that.

Whether rural or remote, urban or metropolitan, or on Zoom, the cadets place a strong emphasis on connecting with the community across a wide range of socio-economic and cultural demographics. Even during that Zoom time of lockdown they've continued to have parades every week to maintain their connection and to conduct online training.

I would like to acknowledge that our own Penrith branch—21 ACU—was founded on 26 June 1985. This year the Australian Air Force Cadets celebrate their 80th anniversary, and we congratulate them on this remarkable milestone. It shows that the number of cadets recruitment has increased over the last four years. I know my colleague the Assistant Minister for Defence is working on building and expanding our cadets even further. Defence is proud of its values—service, courage, respect, integrity and excellence—which shape the culture and the entire organisation, including cadets. I've seen this firsthand with our local cadets at our Anzac Day services, our remembrance services. Each time we have a special occasion in our community our young people come out as part of their cadet program. We are really proud to see the effort they make and the work they do as part of their service to our community as cadets. For over 36 years our Penrith branch has developed the skills and contributed to the development of young people in Penrith, and I look forward to what they do in the future with their cadet program. Our community is proud of our young cadets and we can't wait to see them out parading—in person, off Zoom—in the very near future.

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