Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to commend all the citizens of my electorate who received Australia Day awards this year. While many people across the electorate were honoured, I am going to concentrate on one extraordinary woman who was awarded a member of the Order of Australia. Geraldine Hogarth from Leonora is a Kuwarra Pini Tjalkatarra woman who received the OAM in recognition of her work in child ear health and language preservation.

Geraldine has worked and lived around Leonora her whole life and, when she started her career working in community health, immediately saw the connection between hearing, learning and culture. She felt that more than ever all people should be able to listen to and learn from one another so that they can live in a new, multicultural Australia. Along with her mother, Luxie Hogarth, she is very involved with teaching Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children the language of Kuwarra and, as such, are preserving their language.

I was taken by something Geraldine said in a recent interview. She said that people simply need support and encouragement to allow their own strengths and skills to shine. Congratulations, Geraldine, on being recognised with an Order of Australia. Your attitude, dedication to your community and hard work are an inspiration to everyone, and you should feel very proud of receiving such a prestigious award.