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

I wish to put on record five outstanding young Australians from the electorate of Fadden who have received recently a sports championship award given from the program that each federal MP administers. I will outline some of the great things they have done and also put on the record my thanks to a great Olympian, Barry Kelly, who is also a primary school teacher at Pacific Pines State School and who is the chairman of the Local Sporting Champions Grant committee on the Gold Coast. I thank him for his commitment and his love of what he does in the service of his community.

The five great Australians are Lauren Nash, Amy Morland, Sariah We Neera, Calvin Quirk and Ben Houghton. Lauren Nash used the contribution that she received to attend the World Free Skating Championship. Her mother sends a huge thankyou for approving the funding for Lauren. She says: ' We are so appreciative as this is our only funding that we have received. Have been driving friends and family mad with Cadbury chocolates and raffles.' Lauren has just returned from competing at the Oceanias with a gold medal and is the Cadet Ladies Free Skating Champion for 2013. She is very happy as her Nan passed away just before she left for the competition and she really wanted to come home with gold for her Nan. She is looking forward to travelling to Germany in a few weeks to compete in the German Cup. Her goal was to skate at the worlds and to compete in the 2013 German Cup, the highest event in the skating calendar. She was placed 10th in the world for her age group.

Ms Amy Morland, in the Australian Schoolgirls Football Tour, started playing soccer at Runaway Bay in my electorate at a very young age. She has had a phenomenal progression through her sport: rep football at age 12. She trains locally two nights a week. The grant has helped her achieve recently at the magnificent Rio De Janeiro. Her team had three wins, three losses and one draw—incredible for a team playing girls football in South America. She was awarded the best player on and off the pitch. She has been offered a trial with the Newcastle Jets and the Brisbane Roar are showing some interest.

Sariah We Neera used her grant for the state basketball under-16 championships. She trains six days a week and before-school training starts at 5.45 am. She has played in the under-23 league to qualify. The grant has helped her to achieve attendance at the state championships where her team came seventh. Based on her performance at this competition, she was selected to play in the Queensland state under-16 team. She will head to Adelaide in July and she has continued to fundraise as this trip will cost $300. So far she has sold 30 boxes of fundraising chocolates to raise almost $1,000.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll take a box.

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

She has received the most valuable player award for the season. My good friend Andrew Laming has just said that he will take a box. I will join him and also take a box to help Saria We Neera get to Adelaide. That is fabulous.

Calvin Quirk had to qualify for the National Schools Cross Country Competition by running in the school regional and state carnivals. He has qualified for seven national events in the past 18 months in athletics, cross country and triathlon. Last week he competed in the schools APS cross country championship beating his nearest competitor by two minutes. The grant has helped him win the national schools cross country championship. After another stellar year of achievement, he is hoping to qualify later this year for the 2014 World All Schools Cross Country Championships where he will represent Australia. It is an impressive effort from a great young Australian.

The fifth of the great Australians from the electorate of Fadden on the northern Gold Coast is Ben Houghton, who competed at the 2012 Australian Junior Table Tennis Championships. In 2011 he was runner-up at the nationals in Sydney. He won gold in both the team event and doubles. He competed in the Australian Open and won two gold medals in the under-21 team. He finished in the top four to be selected for the state team. He started playing eight years ago at the age of eight. He has represented Queensland five times. The grant has allowed this amazing young Australian and his team to win silver. It has allowed him to be ranked seventh in Australia. This ranking means that he is now off to the national top-10 event in Victoria and the Australian Closed Championships in Sydney. He was a part of the team that was awarded the Queensland Youth Sports Award by the Premier. His talents mean that he will be attending training camps overseas. His goals are the Brazil Olympics and the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

These are five remarkable young Australians doing remarkable things with their lives in this area in the interest of sport. It is a great privilege to be able to help them with the awarding of the sports championship grants. I look forward to helping many more great young Australians.