Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to commend the great people of the northern Gold Coast in the electorate of Fadden to nominate the wonderful volunteers in their organisation of the annual Fadden Volunteer Awards. Every year around October and November we put on an awards ceremony that highlights those great unsung heroes of our community: those who volunteer their time, their resources, their efforts and who serve their local communities through a range of groups from amputee services through to Lions to Rotary; those who go overseas to support regional development goals; those who work in local schools; those who teach RE in schools; those who work with kids with disadvantage, like Riding for the Disabled; those who work with the Red Cross; and those who work with St. John Ambulance. The list of volunteer organisations goes on and on.

The Fadden Volunteer Awards are simply saying to those people: 'We value your contribution to community. We value the fact that not only do you save the purse of the state an enormous amount of money in the state not having to provide those services but you stand up proudly and say, "You know what? We do not want the state involved. We believe in community. We believe in small government. We believe that community should be able to solve communities' problems."' And I applaud that. I applaud those people who serve and work tirelessly. Many of them will get no recognition. They will not see their names in the paper or be on the seven o'clock news. They will not have their highlights and the activities they do and the successes they have applauded in the public space. So the Fadden Volunteer Awards is all about saying to you: 'Whilst the greater media do not see what you do, I see what you do. Your community sees what you do. The organisation you work with sees what you do. We are not blind to the impact you have on everyday lives.' When it comes down to the issue of service, if we are not impacting and improving lives for the better, then we have missed the heart of what service truly is.

I encourage all of the volunteer organisations within the northern Gold Coast, within Fadden, to put forward your nominations for the Fadden Volunteer Awards. Put forward those men and women who work tirelessly in your organisation and deserve to be recognized, who deserve to have their name in lights for that one brief period of time and who deserve for the community to highlight them, to see them and to applaud them for what they have done. Nominations are open now and are open for the next month. The nomination form is available on my website at robert.com.au. Fill it out—it is not difficult—send it through to us and we look forward to working with our varied community groups in identifying, lifting up and acknowledging those unsung heroes who do so very much for the lives of the people on the northern Gold Coast.