Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last night I attended the 2010 Minister’s Awards for Excellence for Employers of Australian Apprentices right here in Parliament House. These awards recognise and celebrate the achievement of employers that demonstrate excellence in their training of Australian apprentices. It was wonderful to see my electorate of Solomon represented at these awards. I was grateful that I could be there to join in their celebrations and I would like to place on the record my congratulations to the finalists and winners. Mr David Friebal, the senior field officer with Australian Apprenticeships NT, was recognised was for his commitment to helping Indigenous Australians, especially those in remote communities. Congratulations to David—well done.

Hastings Deering were the Northern Territory regional winner of the excellence award for employers of Australian apprentices. This is the third time Hastings Deering have won this award. This is a great achievement given that the awards have only been operating for 10 years and that you cannot compete two years in a row. So well done to Colin George and the Hastings Deering team. I also wish to place on the record my congratulations to Mike Harrison and his team at both GTNT and the Australian Apprenticeship Centre for their fantastic work in supporting employers with apprentices in the Northern Territory. The runner-up in this category was Macmahon Contractors Pty Ltd. Well done to you all. It is people and organisations like you that make our territory great.