Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 4 August I was privileged to host the inaugural Closing the Gap Awards in my electorate of Banks. The government introduced these awards to recognise and honour those Australians who contribute to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in their own communities. While the government is striving to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, for decades Indigenous people themselves have been quietly improving the lives of their own communities.

In my community, I recognised the work of Marjorie Anderson, who has served on many community boards, including as Chair of Koori Radio. Marjorie was the inaugural Chair of the Aboriginal Advisory Group for Hurstville City Council and has worked tirelessly to build strong ties between Aborigines and council.

Annette Webb is a Koori artist who paints with a group of women at Kurranulla Aboriginal Corporation, based in Jannali. Annette assisted with the establishment of the Hurstville Aboriginal Art Group, aimed at building the capacity of isolated and disadvantaged local Aboriginal women.

Louise Durmush returned to work after the birth of her twin daughters. She trained as a care worker. Louise became the Aboriginal project officer with the Benevolent Society, then moved on to Aboriginal Home Care as the disability and access officer.

Aloma Sagigi is a Torres Strait Islander artist who visits local schools and is a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee for Bankstown City Council. Maggie and Colin Williams visit schools to provide education on Aboriginal issues. In addition, they visit prisons to provide encouragement and support for Aboriginal youth. Jaleesa Donovan runs an Aboriginal oral history project from Bankstown Youth Development Services. She keeps the community in touch with government initiatives. Sheila Fay is a member of Bankstown Koori Elders and is a volunteer for St Vincent de Paul. Carol Carter is an Aboriginal elder and very active through the Bankstown Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee for Bankstown City Council.

I recognise their hard work and dedication to providing a lifetime of support to the local community. All have contributed magnificently to fostering pride in their culture and protecting Indigenous heritage, and we thank them for their leadership in our community.

It was a wonderful evening of celebration in recognising the contribution that each of these people has made to their local community. The warmth and good nature of each of the individuals has to be seen to be believed. They are all putting something back into their community; they are all contributing to their community. These awards are a wonderful way of saying thank you to these volunteers. I can tell you that that made a difference. If you looked into their eyes, you could see that they were pretty proud and happy. I was really pleased to be associated with giving them recognition on the evening.