Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to take this opportunity to inform the House of the outstanding success of the Tugun Lights Up event on the southern Gold Coast recently. Tugun Lights Up is a community event which literally lights up the central village area of Tugun for Christmas. Supported by the Tugun Progress Association, it aims to celebrate Christmas, support local businesses and bring community together, and last Saturday they did just that.

Last weekend, Tugun was transformed into a Christmas Wonderland with markets, food stalls, window displays, live music and kids workshops for the Tugun Lights Up event. While official figures are still being tallied, local observers estimate that between 4,000 and 5,000 people turned out for the night, which is an outstanding turnout for such a small community.

The community spirit is clearly well and truly alive on the southern Gold Coast, with the village atmosphere at Tugun making it a unique drawcard for summer celebrations such as this. This event embodies the spirit of the southern Gold Coast, where volunteers passionately work to bring local businesses and all members of the community together, and I was delighted to be able to support this event.

I would like to congratulate Philip Folland and his team of volunteers who went the extra mile to make the event such a success. The Tugun community as a whole should be proud of the collaborative and positive atmosphere which was brightly displayed on Saturday. It is a wonderful event, and I look forward to being part of Tugun Lights Up again in 2015.