Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia has a proud history at the Paralympics. Since the first games in 1960—to which Australia sent 12 athletes, winning a total of 10 medals—Australia has always punched above its weight in the Olympics and Paralympics together. This year, 4,000 Paralympians travelled to Paris, where Australia was represented by 160 athletes: 152 with an impairment, two athletic guides, two boccia ramp operators, two cycling pilots, one triathlon guide and one rowing coxswain. They were supported by 198 staff, including two handlers for a triathlon. Our youngest athlete is 15 and our oldest athlete is approaching 70. Sixty-one of these athletes made their Paralympian debut this year for Australia. We had another characteristically strong showing, with 18 gold medals and 63 medals overall, for a ninth-place finish.

I'd like to congratulate each participant on their participation in these games. I personally watched a lot of the competition and found it to be inspiring, particularly those who have overcome health and mental challenges to perform at an elite level. The opportunity for people to use sport to overcome differences and a great display of the power of sport to connect and grow people through competition were on display over these last couple of weeks.

I was particularly inspired to watch, and am particularly grateful in congratulating, Cronulla local and Paralympics legend Dan Michel. Dan won a silver medal in Paris. Dan, you made all of us proud in your finals appearance last Tuesday morning, winning your second Paralympic medal in the final against South Korea—a silver medal. I would also like to give a shout-out to Dan's ramp assistant, Ashlee Maddern. Dan has represented Australia on more than 25 occasions, and these were his third Paralympics. On Dan's arm, a tattoo reads, 'Much effort, much prosperity.' The effort Dan has put into this sport since the age of 16 demonstrates the truth of this tattoo. He entered the games for Australia in the unprecedented position of being world No. 1 in the BC3 individual and, paired with Jamieson Leeson, world No. 1 in the BC3 pairs. Dan claimed Australia's first individual medal in boccia in 25 years, securing the bronze in Tokyo, and he has followed that up with a stunning performance to secure the silver for Australia in Paris. As a duo in the boccia doubles, Dan and his partner, Jamie, go by the nickname Dan and Jam, and, along with their ramp operators, received the award for Team of the Year at the 2023 AIS Sport Performance Awards, the first Paralympic team to ever win this award.

Dan, you've done exceptionally well, and you make everybody in our electorate of Cook proud. I'd like to congratulate you on your most recent silver medal and being an inspiration to us all. You've shown us that sports are a great way for people living with a disability to participate. Forty-one per cent of Australians participate in sports at least once a week. This is in stark contrast to Australians with a disability, of whom only 24 per cent participate in sport weekly. Participation is important for not only physical but also mental and social wellbeing for Australians, and we do not want to freeze out Australians living with a disability from these mental and social improvement opportunities. I encourage people living with a disability to follow the example of Dan and to consider sport and what it can do for them physically, mentally and socially. I think we need to look to the NDIS and other government support programs to help people with a disability improve their participation in sport so that it starts approaching that of ordinary, average Australians. Role models like Dan and the other Paralympians are critical to further improving these participation rates. I welcome their leadership.

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