Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge the special contribution of many members of my community who have been recognised in the 2013 Australia Day honours. We are blessed to have a great community filled with many volunteers and high levels of volunteerism in Mitchell. We are particularly lucky to have people of the calibre who have received honours in this year's awards.

I particularly think about people like Mr Wayne Merton AM, who since moving to the hills 50 years ago has been the state MP for Carlingford and Baulkham Hills and has had a career spanning 27 years. Mr Merton was the Minister for Justice and Emergency Services in the state government, one of the old-school, high-calibre state MPs who delivered so much for their community, and he became an icon in the hills district doing so many things for so many.

I think of people like Jane Cooke OAM of Baulkham Hills, who has been awarded the Australia Medal for services to the sport of gymnastics and as an administrator. The Castle Hill RSL Gymnastics School has some extremely high-achieving children going on to be Olympians for Australia. Jane also serves on the Mitchell Sporting Champions Panel, and I am so grateful to her for all of the work that she does on behalf of our community.

I think of Mrs Nancy Serg OAM of Baulkham Hills, given her work with the Maltese community. She started her work with this community in Australia in 1965 after she migrated to Australia from Malta at the age of 18. She has been so valuable in hosting community, theatrical and other events integrating Australians of Maltese background into our community so well, doing the work that government could never do.

I think of Mrs Carolyn Gould OAM, who has had a great career in the cashmere industry, starting with two goats on her property which later developed into a whole herd of goats. She has been serving the Australian Cashmere Growers Association in so many capacities and in numerous other voluntary positions that I do not have time to recognise today.

I think of Mrs Wandacita Day of Northmead for, and this reflects the great diversity of Australia, her work with the labour council and trade union. She fought to modernise the Woolworths workplace to make better work conditions and provide women with equal pay in line with that of male employees, something which is an anachronism today but was so important for people like Mrs Day to achieve at the time. There are so many others in our community who cannot be named today but also deserve recognition. Each year the Hills Shire Council recognises exceptional citizens, including Shirley Purser, the Hills Shire Council's senior citizen of the year, Alexander Roberts, the Hills Shire Council's young citizen of the year, Evelyn Lester, the new citizen of the year, Lionel Smith, awarded the local hero award, and Rick Gatenby, awarded the young hero award. Then, of course, there are the excellent volunteers of the calibre of Warren Bowden, of the Hills District Historical Society—which received the Hills Shire Council's community project of the year award—with recognition for all the excellent work that he has done with the Castle Hill Heritage Park being one of the very genuine heritage sites that remain in Australia to be protected by government. All of these people deserve congratulations. They are fine contributors to our community and I congratulate all of them.