Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate one of the great schools in my electorate of Stirling, Yuluma Primary School, on winning one of the 2015 Anzac Day Schools' Awards. Yuluma was this year's winner in the Best Veteran and Community Involvement special category. Yuluma beat all the other schools from around Australia in this category, which is a huge achievement and honour. I was very pleased to be able to personally present the school with its certificate, plaque and a cheque for $1,000 at a special assembly recently. The Department of Veterans' Affairs admired the unique way of commemorating the Centenary of Anzac by sending 'Flat Stanleys' to various ADF personnel in Australia and overseas, including the 1st Armoured Regiment and the 1st Aviation Regiment. During my visit to the school, I was able to see firsthand the work that the students had done in creating their individual Flat Stanleys, which reflected the school community. It was great to see that each class created their own Flat Stanley and received photos and feedback from each of the ADF units that received one.

Although there was a huge effort made by the entire school community, I would like to especially mention Miss Margo Whittle, the history and Japanese teacher at Yuluma, who spent many hours putting together the application for this award and coordinating this program. I would also like to make special mention of the school chaplain, retired Lieutenant Colonel Mark Walker, whose idea it was to send the Flat Stanleys to a range of different ADF units across the country and overseas. I believe it is vitally important that our students learn about the significance of the Anzac history, and it was great to see that the school also got involved in a range of commemorative activities for the Anzac Centenary.

I was particularly impressed with the way the school took the initiative to engage our current serving troops as part of their Anzac Centenary commemoration. Many of our current serving soldiers are often away from their families for long periods of time, so to receive letters of support and encouragement from young school children is really important. The Flat Stanley idea was particularly effective at this because it engaged the soldiers and encouraged them to create their own Flat Stanleys and send them back to the students.

This milestone year, the Centenary of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli, is significant beyond measure in our nation's history. By commemorating the centenary we recognise and thank all those who have served our country and worn our nation's uniform over the past 100 years. I would like to congratulate all the students and staff at Yuluma Primary School on winning this prestigious national award.