Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I would like to speak about some very special people who make my community tick over. These people are the glue that keeps the community together. A couple of these very special people attended a seniors morning tea that I conducted at the Balla Balla Community Centre in Cranbourne on 6 June. I was quite overwhelmed at the number of people who attended—more than 250. The event was held to mark the contribution made to our community by senior citizens. They have been, and continue to be, important, vital parts of our community.

One very special person was there: a gentleman called David Lentin. David is a spectacular individual—a person whom everyone would like to meet. For more than 10 years he has been the station manager at 3SER-FM, which is a non-commercial community radio station catering to the south-eastern area of Melbourne, which has a population of about 300,000 people. David has been involved in so many community based initiatives that they are too numerous to mention here, but I will mention some. After the 2004 tsunami, he ran an appeal that raised more than $30,000. I can recall being with him outside the Fountain Gate shopping centre when he was raising that money. David runs an outside broadcast of the Anzac Day marches in Cranbourne. He is an essential part of those marches. This year more than 3,000 people in the Cranbourne area attended that march; it is a growing ceremony. David was state president of Neighbourhood Watch for 10 years during the 1980s and 1990s, and he received a major community safety award. He is an ex-member of the Victorian police force and he is a passionate champion of the community. He is the local voice of Cranbourne and the surrounding area, and he is an individual who is fighting illness but still performing his duties.

Someone who could not be there but to whom I would have presented a Cranbourne Community Spirit Award is George Stephens. He is considered by many to be one of Cranbourne’s ‘living treasures’. George has been a member of the Cranbourne Lions Club for many years and has helped on many community projects. In April 1985, he started the Cranbourne Lions Concert Band, and he has been involved in that project ever since. The band have been going from strength to strength and they pride themselves on getting the best out of all the members. The Cranbourne Lions Concert Band is involved in many community based events, and George is an essential part of that. He is another essential member of the community.

Another person who could not be there is a person who was an outstanding contributor to the community: Shirlene Dawn Nadarajah. She was recognised by me earlier this year, as part of the Holt Australia Day Community Spirit Awards, for her outstanding service to the Brownies and Girl Guides Association. Dawn was involved for over 50 years in Brownies and Guides and represented Australia on a number of occasions at the international Guides conferences. In 1991, Dawn was appointed Victorian Multicultural Officer for Guiding, and she performed that role in addition to her role as District Guide Commissioner for Eumemmerring. Dawn served the association with great devotion and loyalty in the Guide units at Endeavour Hills and Cranbourne. Very sadly, Dawn passed away on 20 May this year. Her husband, Anton Nadarajah, is another fantastic community-minded individual. He is the Secretary of the Board of the South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre. He has been on the board for 14 years. I commiserate with him on his huge loss. Dawn was another one of those people you walk past in the street every day, who contribute to our community without making great fanfare or great fuss. She was someone who, through her active participation in the community, made the community a better place.

I will mention one more person: Susan Bergman, who has been an active member of the Cranbourne community—and right across the city of Casey—for well over 10 years. Sue performs at various functions as Lady Uppity Crust. She is a person of great character. She personifies Cranbourne. She is like an essential community gateway, an essential community link. These are just some of the people who make up the kaleidoscope of individuals in Cranbourne and make my electorate a fantastic place to live and work.