Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I rise today to recognise some of the wonderful people in the electorate of Forde for the Australia Day awards that they received. While Australia Day is a time to celebrate the founding of our great nation, it is also a time to recognise the people who make our country the great place that it has become.

As families celebrated Australia Day with backyard cricket, barbecues and other great Australian traditions, I had the pleasure of attending the citizenship ceremony and Australia Day awards at the Logan Entertainment Centre to celebrate some of our local heroes. I would like to take this opportunity to commend two amazing people from my electorate of Forde who were honoured at the 2016 City of Logan Australia Day Awards for their selfless service to our community. Quota Beenleigh President Heather Christensen is this year's City of Logan Citizen of the Year. Heather has been a member of Quota Beenleigh for 23 years and has served as treasurer and president. She has also worked as the club's publicity officer and has convened the Quota Beenleigh City of Logan Eisteddfod for the past eight years. As well as mentoring members of Junior Quota clubs at Beenleigh, Loganlea and Windaroo high schools, Heather is an active member of the Beenleigh-Yatala Junior Chamber of Commerce. I would like to congratulate Heather for the wonderful work that she has done and continues to do in our local community.

The second Australia Day honour went to a long-serving St Vincent de Paul volunteer, Fay O'Toole, who received the Spirit of Logan Award. Fay has been an active volunteer at the St Patrick's Conference of the St Vincent de Paul Society for more than 27 years. She served as president for a number of years and is also an active member of St Patrick's parish. Fay has helped many people in need over the years, and I commend her for the outstanding work she has done in our community.

Australia Day in Logan is about not only celebrating some outstanding Australians but also welcoming new ones. At the citizenship ceremony we had the pleasure of welcoming 168 people of 40 different nationalities. I wish all of them every success as they continue to build their lives in Australia and as they continue to contribute to the great country in which they now live.