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

This morning I would like to recognise and pay tribute to Rivermount College in my electorate, which last Saturday celebrated its 18th year at its Foundation Day celebration. This college has grown tremendously in size over that time and it serves the community very well. So today I want to recognise its contribution to our community and certainly to the educational effort within the electorate. I would like to recognise the Young family, which founded the college, including the late Hank Young, who passed away earlier this year; Colin Young, his brother, who has returned to the college as its current CEO; and Mike Pearson, the chairman of the board of directors. I would also like to recognise the Keech family, who are pretty well known in the region. Margaret Keech is not only the local member but also a former state minister in Queensland.

I would also like to recognise the students who play a major role. The educational environment at Rivermount inspires leadership. I would like to recognise the current college captains, Anna Pearson and Jacob Parker; the middle school captains, Jayden Wright and Mackenzie Wakefield; and the 2009 college prefects, Caitlin Godber, Daisy Watson, Jessica McMahon, Phillip Morton, Regan Nguon, Sam Massey, Deni Thomas, Sean McClifty, Stevie-Lee Lovejoy and Emma Cheeseman. These students work very well together and provide leadership to the school.

My contribution to the occasion last Saturday was about my understanding and recollections of the school’s history and, more importantly, the future role I will play as the local member. Labor’s Building the Education Revolution is about how we support schools within our community, and the Rivermount College is one of the colleges that will benefit from major investment under that program.

The current head of the college, Michael Trott, has been with the school for a very long time and has been part of its development and part of its growth. He is a man who is very dedicated to education and he inspires new thought and leadership amongst the school community. I would also like to mention Peter Nielsen, president of the Families & Friends Association. He gave a very impassioned speech to parents and friends the other day about the importance of the school community and how they must commit to ensuring that they provide the best education for their students. We understand that that is the case at all schools, but I really wanted to acknowledge this particular college today as an example of the education facilities that we have across this country. Rivermount proudly wears the tag of being a very good school.