Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 2, 3 and 4 May this year I had my annual charity bike ride. The beneficiaries of that bike ride were the Disabled Surfers Association and Macleay Vocational College. The Disabled Surfers Association does fantastic work in providing people with a disability with the opportunity to enjoy the surf in a safe and controlled way. I certainly commend the president, Sue Kleidon, and Cliff Lloyd and Leanne Lloyd for the great work that they do in providing opportunities for people who would otherwise not be able to enjoy surfing. Macleay Vocational College is a great educational institution in Kempsey which provides opportunities for young kids who might otherwise miss out on a good education. I commend Jann Eason and her staff for the hard work they do in providing those educational opportunities.

The first day of the ride commenced at Maclean and I was flagged off by Councillor Jim Simmons. We went on to Grafton, concluding at Nana Glen. The second day was from Nana Glen to Nambucca Heads and the third day was from Nambucca Heads to Kempsey. It was a very enjoyable ride and I certainly commend Mel Roach and Alan Oldroyd, who participated with me on the whole 311 kilometres. I would also like to thank the major sponsors—BCU, the local credit union; McDonald's and the local franchisee Dave Munro; and Andrew Lindsay at Coopers Surf. Without their valuable support we would not have raised anything near the almost $7,500 we did raise. I would also like to commend Valla Lions, who are a regular supporter of the ride and put on a fantastic barbecue at Urunga. I commend President Robin Parker and the Lions for the great work they did in providing a delicious lunch which gave us the energy to continue the ride.

The main purpose of this ride was to raise money for the two organisations, DSA and Macleay Vocational College. It is vitally important that we support our hardworking volunteers out in the community and our valued educational institutions who provide opportunities to people—the DSA providing opportunities in surfing and the Macleay Vocational College providing opportunities in the education field. Both do great work and I certainly commend their work to the House.