Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to talk in this place about celebrating people who make a difference to our community. Through their often tireless, often very long and often unacknowledged efforts, these people make our community and our country a better place in which to live. I would like to acknowledge 19 people and two community based organisations that have made such a significant contribution that they were acknowledged in the Holt Australia Day Awards on Australia Day. I would like to talk about these people briefly to let the parliament and the Australian people know about the contribution they make.

Without going into too much detail, I would like to read into the record the names of the people who received the 2006 Holt Australia Day awards. As I said, because of their contribution to the community, their service to the community, they are the unrecognised heroes of our community. They make our community and our country a better place to be. The recipients of this year’s awards were: Carol Gaudoin, for services to the Andrews Centre; Dale Maggs, for services to the Casey Tourism Association and the Motorcycle Riders Association; Dianne Eigeneraam, for services to the Casey division of St John’s Ambulance Service; Doreen Parton, for services to the Doveton Senior Citizens Club; Evelyn Peterson, for services to the local community and Cornerstone Dandenong; Geoff Ablett, for services to the Narre South Tigers under-18 girls football; Grazie Oost, for services to the Casey Cardinia Community Legal Service; Jennifer Black for services to the Holy Trinity Anglican Church and local community organisations; June Arnott, for services to the Doveton Baptist Benevolent Society; Lindsay King, a legend in Cranbourne, for services to the City of Casey and the Casey Tourism Association; Liz McLennan, for services to the local community and the Andrews Centre; Margaret Roby, for services to the Doveton Senior Citizens Club; Matthew Waixel, for services to the St John’s Ambulance Service; Maureen Kirwan, for services to the Andrews Centre; Pauline Warren Smith, for services to the Doveton Baptist Benevolent Society; Rowan Nowak, for services to the Salvation Army in Cranbourne; Ron McCurdy, for services to the Salvation Army in Cranbourne; Sankara Subramanian, for services to the Victorian Tamil Cultural Association; Sarah Ludlow, for services to the Doveton Baptist Benevolent Society; the Cranbourne Information and Support Service volunteer team, for services to the Casey South community; and the Flame Unity Crew, for their promotion of the Doveton neighbourhood.

All of these people are unsung heroes—people who dedicate their lives to providing very simple services, but services that our community needs. When we talk about people not giving service to the community, we are not talking about the people whose names I have just read into Hansard. These are people who should be honoured for making our community and our country a better place to be. (Time expired)