Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday night I held the third annual 'Hasluck heroes' community awards. It was a fantastic night of community celebration and a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge 36 local achievers from my electorate. In my role, I have the great privilege of witnessing firsthand some of the fantastic work of volunteers. Unfortunately, all too often these dedicated individuals go unrecognised and unacknowledged for the way that they build up our community and make it an even better place to live.

Our community would not be the same without our countless local volunteers and the fantastic contribution they make. With this in mind, I created the 'Hasluck heroes' awards to recognise people in our community who are making outstanding achievements. It want to take this opportunity to share a few of the stories of some of those outstanding achievers from my community.

Winner of this year's 'Hasluck heroes' environmental achievement award was Unice Robinson, who has a strong passion for the environment that is admired and respected by everyone around her. Unice founded the Friends of Mary Carroll Lake, an environmental group that seeks to preserve Mary Carroll Park in Gosnells. Unice organises regular working bees for the Friends of Mary Carroll Lake to keep the site clear from rubbish and weeds, making the area a safe, family-friendly recreational place for my community. Unice is also teaching local students at Gosnells Primary School the value of the local natural bushland area. They are now able to identify some of the local plants and have developed a respect for protecting native bushland.

Kenwick Primary School student, Emilio Davey, and the local environmentalist, Eleanor Stratton, are two of the other environmental achievers who I recognised on Friday evening.

Another local achiever is Elsie Brown who was awarded this year's 'Hasluck heroes' senior achievement award. Elsie has been a resident and volunteer at Amaroo Village aged-care services for the last 18 years. I do not think that she has slowed down at all during that time. Elsie illustrates the very best of volunteering, putting the interests of others ahead of her own. Elsie cooks, cleans, shops and provides transport for fellow residents. Elsie's friendly nature and bubbly personality lifts the spirit of those she visits. In a society where more and more senior Australians feel isolated and lonely, Elsie's work is of critical importance.

Elsie is not the only senior from my electorate who is doing wonderful things in our community. I would like to mention John Boldock, Gael Connell, Shirley Fitzhum, Cindy Garlett and Geoff Wiltshire.

I am always impressed with the calibre of sports people that my community produces, and it is also an honour to recognise some of these at the 'Hasluck heroes' awards. This year's 'Hasluck heroes' sports achievement award winner, Caitlin Parker, has represented WA three times at the national titles in boxing, where she has won all three gold medals. Caitlin was not alone in her outstanding achievement, and it was also an honour to recognise Jess Anstiss, Melanie Birch, Jesse Halkett, Trent Harris, Ellie La Mante and Courtney Muggridge for their sports achievements.

The number of young people in my community who are volunteering is also impressive. This year's 'Hasluck heroes' youth achievement award went to 15-year-old Kaede Fleet, who has already made a significant contribution to our local community with her volunteer work with the Gosnells Youth Advisory Council and at her local school, Thornlie Senior High School. This year she has helped to organise Gozzy Rock 2013 and leadership programs for local youth, as well as Anzac Day services and numerous fundraising efforts at her school. She is also passionate about raising awareness about the nature of bullying, and has filmed, edited and promoted an antibullying video to raise community awareness about this important issue.

In addition to Kaede it was an honour to recognise the hard work of Briony Downes, Amy Rickard and Halei Greaves, who did an outstanding job fundraising for the cystic fibrosis 65 Roses Challenge this year. Additionally, Kiara Hicks and Paige Dittmer have both been volunteering with organisations in our community.

My community is home to some great community organisations, and on Friday night I was able to recognise several of these. This year's 'Hasluck heroes' community group award winner is the Arvosi Group, which is a group of volunteers who entertain at seniors' clubs, nursing homes and community functions. The Arvosi Group brightens the days of local seniors as they perform, and I have heard many positive reports about their work. I would also like to mention MIDLAS, the Gosnells District Neighbourhood Watch Association, the Gosnells PCYC, the Kalamunda Community Learning Centre and the Lesmurdie & Districts Community Association, who were all finalists.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge Fred Smith, who is the president of the RSL, for the volunteer achievement award. He has been volunteering for many years for the RSL and the Kalamunda SES. Thank you.