David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to have the opportunity this morning to speak about the great activities of a number of important community organisations in my electorate. Last Saturday, 28 November, I attended the annual dinner dance of the Knights of St George Heart Association. For almost 30 years, the Knights of St George Heart Association has been raising funds for the Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit at St George Hospital. It has raised more than $1 million over that period. I would like to thank Dr David Horton, the president of the Knights, and also Susan Leahy, who organised the event, as she does every year with her characteristic efficiency and great enthusiasm for the organisation. The Knights of St George do tremendous work for St George Hospital. They are one of the most respected groups in our community. I thank them so much for all of their efforts.

Also, last weekend, on 29 November I attended Club Central at Hurstville for the CASS Chinese school concert. I am fortunate that my electorate of Banks has the highest proportion of Australians of Chinese background of any electorate in the nation. One of the most important groups within the Chinese community is CASS. CASS runs a number of Chinese language schools, both Mandarin and Cantonese, at Hurstville, Connells Point, Kogarah and other places. They are very well-run schools and are highly regarded in our community. At the concert on Sunday more than 200 kids performed to a packed house of 450 people. I thank Bosco Chang for his efforts in organising this event, and my good friends Henry Pan, Maria Cheng and everyone else at CASS. Thank you so much for everything you do.

Also, last week I paid a visit to the Oatley Heritage and Historical Society. The society meets on a regular basis to discuss, as the name suggests, the history of the suburb of Oatley, which is a beautiful region around the Georges River in my electorate. I attended and very much enjoyed a talk about Robert Townsend, who was the first private landowner in the Oatley region. It was a fascinating talk that we heard on the day about the history of the land development of Oatley. To President Rodger Robertson, thank you. Thank you also for the publications of the group, such as Bill Wright's book World War I Oatley Veterans. Thank you so much to the Oatley Heritage and Historical Society for what you contribute to our community.