Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tomorrow marks a very important day in Queensland. I am here to talk a little bit about Queensland because 6 June is Queensland Day. While we all proudly stand up as Australians and recognise the Federation some 107 years ago, it is very important not to forget where we have come from. Certainly the important fact for Queensland is that 149 years ago tomorrow Queen Victoria signed the letters patent that formed Queensland as a separate colony, and so we celebrate 6 June as Queensland Day.

My electorate is the electorate of Forde; the member for McPherson, who is sitting across from me, knows Forde very well because we have neighbouring seats. It is a beautiful area and we celebrate the beauty of the area and also the people who reside in that electorate. The people of Forde, like many around the country, engage in a voluntary capacity in many activities that help our communities. So I have decided on Queensland Day in the seat of Forde to celebrate that fact and recognise members of our community who have worked very hard. A select number of people have been nominated for their work within the community, and tomorrow I will be giving out awards to over 40 constituents of Forde who have proven to be very important in our community.

I will quickly say a little bit about Forde. We have one of the oldest national parks in the Southern Hemisphere. One hundred years ago, Witches Falls was deemed to be a national park—in fact, it was on the same day that Rugby League formed itself in Australia.

Of those people we are recognising tomorrow, there is one who particularly stands out among them all. My inaugural award for the Queenslander of the Year in the seat of Forde will be awarded to Colin Nelson. I will briefly speak about Colin’s work. He worked on a voluntary basis for many years, particularly in the area of community banking—providing and helping people in the area of finance. He established three community banks in the Logan and adjacent areas. He has also been responsible for organising large events such as Logan’s Big Day Out, which is an event for people of Logan who have disabilities, and Logan’s Little Heroes, which is an event for young people in Logan who have a terminal illness. I take this opportunity to congratulate Colin, who will be awarded Queenslander of the Year in the seat of Forde.