Kay Elson (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand today to place on record my admiration of the community of Beaconsfield, which had their quiet world completely changed over the past two weeks. They opened their doors and hearts to the rest of the world. They allowed us to share in the grief of losing Larry Knight, the anxiety of not knowing if Todd Russell and Brant Webb had survived, the elation on hearing they were both alive and then the long journey of their rescue. The true glory and happiness of seeing them emerge from the mine made us wish that we could reach into the television and give them a hug too.

Thank you, Beaconsfield, for tolerating our intrusion into your life and allowing us to share your highs and lows. Thank you to all involved in the rescue. You were truly professional and we are all very proud of your efforts. My deepest sympathy goes to Larry’s family for their great loss. We all feel that we know Todd and Brant so well. We admire their resilience and bravery. They have stamped on Australia what mateship is all about. Their world has changed dramatically, and I want to wish them and their families the peace and privacy they deserve.

I would like to also wish young Sophie Delezio a speedy and full recovery. As a parent, my heart went out to Sophie’s parents. No parent deserves to go through so much anguish and fear, and no innocent little girl should have to feel so much pain. Sophie has demonstrated to us in the past, on many occasions, her beautiful and cheerful nature. I know this attitude will give her every chance for a speedy recovery. All of our special wishes are with her.

On another subject, I have been asked to bring an important achievement to the attention of the House. I have also been asked to put the contents of a letter on the public record, so I will read it out:

The Beaudesert Pistol Club would like to bring to your attention the outstanding performance of the Australian Shooting Team at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

A team of 29 athletes consisting of 10 women and 19 men won a total of 23 medals made up of 9 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze. We are pleased, and to point out that our pistol squad of 6 men and 3 women won a total of 11 medals made up of 4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals.

It was good to see Prime Minister John Howard in attendance on day 3 of the competition congratulating our medal winners, thank you John Howard.

We would also like to mention that one of our members worked at the pistol range as a range volunteer.

The shooting team’s performance is very impressive when compared to other countries such as India who won a total of 27 medals in shooting and whose Government invest a lot of time and expense in their athletes preparation and we congratulate them.

Taking into consideration the generous outlays made by the Commonwealth and States in support of the Athletic and Aquatic sports compared to the more modest grants made to the shooting sports, this represents exceedingly good value for money.

It is also worth pointing out that the various shooting sports, for the greater part have to pay for their own shooting facilities, unlike the Athletic and Aquatic sports, whose facilities are provided by various levels of government.

Australian shooters have again proven their credentials as world class athletes and by their demeanour, have shown that they represent the highest ideals of sportsmanship and are worthy role models and ambassadors for their sport.

It is regrettable that there are still organisations and political parties in Australia who continue to vilify the various shooting sports and their practitioners.

We request that the Honourable Member brings the performance of the Australian Shooting Team to the attention of Parliament at its next sitting.

I am only too honoured to do that. I would like to congratulate all pistol club members in Australia and especially the Beaudesert Pistol Club for bringing this to my attention.