John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Sunday I attended the Marist College Eastwood 75th anniversary mass at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. The college's principal, Daniel Delmage, was most welcoming as parish priests and local representatives joined current and former students and parents and staff to celebrate the great history of this important local school. Most poignantly, the attendance list included Father Jim Maloney, the first of 107 students to enrol in the college when it opened its doors in 1937.

Since this time, the school has grown in physical size, in student numbers and in acclaim within the local community. By 1970 there were 900 students enjoying a high level of academic education as well as a dynamic syllabus including religion, art, science and music. The modern and contemporary learning centres in Eastwood today would make the college founders very proud.

As a Catholic school in the Marcellin tradition, the school is deeply rooted in its history and conscious of its dutiful purpose. The school also enjoys the service of lay teachers and administrators and has operated under lay leadership for the past 25 years.

I congratulate Marist College on its achievement in educating more than 5,000 young men over the past 75 years and producing an enviable quantity and quality of leaders of our local community. One of these leaders is Victor Dominello, the New South Wales Minister for Citizenship, Communities and Aboriginal Affairs.