Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management) Share this | Hansard source

This year I received a record number of entries from students at primary schools across Brisbane in my annual Christmas card design competition. The winning students feature on the Christmas card that I send out to residents right across Brisbane and to many others around Australia. This year's theme was 'Christmas together', and the overall winner was Amelie Williams from Newmarket State School. The winner in the prep/year 1 category was Jasleen Kaur of Wilston State School, and the runner-up was Tom Palmer from Eagle Junction State School. The winner of the year 2 category was Amy Rankine of Eagle Junction State School, and the runner-up was Sophie Fussell of Holy Spirit School. The winner of the year 3 category was Juhi Pradeep from Kelvin Grove State School, and the runner-up was Jenna Wing of Newmarket State School. I want to congratulate and thank all the students who entered, for their colourful, artistic and cheerful entries. I would also like to thank the teachers who helped to get these entries organised and into my office and all the teachers across Brisbane for their hard work throughout the year and for rising to the challenges presented by the pandemic in recent times. I am confident that, through the recent lockdowns, many parents out there have a newfound appreciation and respect for the role played by our teachers every day.

Many of the students' Christmas art designs are a strong reminder that, despite tough times, the spirit of Christmas is very much alive in Brisbane. In that spirit, I really encourage Brisbane locals not only to spend time together again with their families and friends over the upcoming holidays but also to think about our wider community. Consider helping out a local charity or organisation over the break. When it comes to buying gifts for friends and families these holidays, I encourage everyone to shop local, to support the local small businesses that continue to be the backbone of our community. Everyone knows that our businesses—our small businesses, our family businesses—have been getting through incredibly challenging times recently. If we want them to continue to create over half of all the new jobs for Australians and, in particular, to provide many of the opportunities and skills needed by younger Australians and other Australians wanting to get a foot in the door of the workforce, we need to support those wonderful small and family businesses in our communities. So, in the spirit of Christmas, let's all remember to love our local community, love our local shops and #lovebrisbane. Merry Christmas to everyone.

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