Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is often said that a great element lies at the heart of the Australian nation and runs through its veins. That element, that great truth, can be seen as we look skyward on a clear night. In Kalgoorlie or Cairns, Darwin or Adelaide, Katherine or Sydney, Narre Warren or Cranbourne, we see it in the stars, in a shimmering black sky, the stars of the Southern Cross. Looking at this cluster of stars—this amazing arrangement in the night sky—is a truly great leveller. The Southern Cross is more than just a symbol on our nation's flag; it shows us our place in the world and it demonstrates to us that under these stars we are all equal.

From our First Australians through to those who inhabit these lands today—regardless of race or religion, colour or creed—under these stars we are all equal.

Much has been said of equality in this place, but I believe this concept of equality is a foundation of our country and its future, and it is a concept that truly does define our country. Because we are all equal, we are all entitled to be treated equally by all organs of government; by educational, religious and non-government institutions and bodies; and by the law. It has been, and must be, the cornerstone of any functioning democracy, as I have said. Equality is the precursor to freedom. It also means, though, equality of opportunity, equality of access to every possibility that this country offers—the opportunity to dream, to aspire, to hope and to change the community.

This takes me to the next subject: the sense of being equal under the Southern Cross was never more evident than on Australia Day when I hosted the 2013 Holt Australia Day Awards in Hampton Park and in Doveton. My friend the member for Griffiths was talking about his 14th Australia Day Awards. This was my ninth. We did look at his awards as a template for what we wanted to do.

This annual event, as the member for Griffith has said, is a wonderful occasion on which the community comes together for the common good to acknowledge the work of an amazing group of 33 outstanding individuals and two organisations. For the last nine years I have been honoured to conduct the Holt Australia Day Awards. Each year we recognise the achievements of the unsung heroes in our community. These individuals do tremendous work, donating their time to make the lives of others just that little bit better. But they are the glue that binds our community together. Without their voluntary work, many of the community service and sporting organisation groups would simply not exist.

But they also do this in an authentic, understated Australian way. One of the heroes of I Can Single People Out who received this award, and whom I had the pleasure of honouring on Australia Day, was Captain Shaun Trotter. Shaun joined the CFA as a volunteer at the age of 14 on Ash Wednesday, and has been a volunteer now for over 31 years. Shaun was in charge of the CFA response to the Black Saturday Narre Warren North and Harkaway fires in 2009 and is an active member within the community supporting campaigns such as Stop Violence Against Women and Fire Safe Kids, which promotes fire awareness. Another of the recipients was Margaret O'Callaghan who has been the manager of the Cranbourne Community House for over two decades.

While there were others I wanted to talk about, there was one particular person I wanted to talk about whom I had the honour of presenting the award to—and that is the young lady sitting down in the advisers box, Dani Rothwell. Let me tell you about Dani Rothwell. She came up here in a voluntary capacity this week and never knew that I was going to do this to her! But I would like to talk about an exceptional young person. She was an award recipient on Australia Day. Dani, who celebrated her 18th birthday—commiserations: it was in Canberra!—on Sunday is a person with a huge passion for bettering the community around her. She volunteers wherever possible and she works tirelessly to promote and improve the image of young people in our region. This young person was literally the creator and the inspiration behind the Youth Suicide Forum we conducted in Casey after we had unnecessarily lost a lot of our young people. This young woman walked through my door and basically said that, on behalf of the youth of the city of Casey, we had to do something—and we had to do something now. She was the driving force. She was the inspiration. And, on that momentous day, she spoke very bravely of her own experiences of losing some of her friends.

By her own actions she is starting to lead a national conversation by young people about an issue that we as a community we need to address. So congratulations to you, Dani, on behalf of all of the motley crew here, and thank you for your work. It was an honour to present you with the Australia Day Award. You symbolise what it means to be an Australian. You are the hope, the future of our country, and thank you very much for your efforts.