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

Recently, I attended the Oatley Bay Sea Scouts located in my electorate. It is a tremendous group. It is a very active group, with dozens of kids involved in scouting, cubs and other activities. Because, as the name suggests, they are located on the bay, the kids have the good fortune of being involved in not just the traditional scouting activities but also canoeing, kayaking and a range of other water-based activities, as well. On the night I attended, the group was practising various emergency scenarios—what to do and how to help in different emergencies. It was good to see them having fun and learning a lot at the same time. I would like to thank Mark Connell, the group leader, John Vickery, the cub leader, and also Jen Attard, the scout leader, for having me along on the evening. It is a beautiful location where Oatley Bay Sea Scouts conduct their activities. It is great to see such an enthusiastic and strong group of kids getting involved in the scouting movement.

On Good Friday this year, I attended the Good Friday liturgy at St Charbel's Church in Punchbowl. I have attended this service over a number of years in recent times. I thank the Maronite community for the invitation to attend these important services. The Good Friday service at St Charbel's in Punchbowl is traditionally attended by thousands of people who practise the Maronite Catholic faith. I was, again, very privileged to attend this year. I would like to thank Father Joseph Sleiman for all of his leadership of the St Charbel's community and, also, Bishop Antoine Tarabay, the national leader of the Lebanese Maronite Church in Australia, for the many great works that they do in the broader Sydney community.

Earlier in the year, I attended the opening of the Oatley War Memorial outside Oatley Public School. This memorial had, in fact, been in place for some decades. But, in recent times, it had fallen into a state of disrepair, with shrubbery and so on growing over the memorial. A number of people in the local community decided that that was not good enough. They decided that the memorial should be reinvigorated and reopened to commemorate the sacrifices of Oatley residents in war. The Oatley Heritage and Historical Society did a lot of work on the history of the memorial. Oatley Public School played a very important role in putting together all the necessary documentation to make the memorial reopening proposal a reality. I am pleased that the federal government was able to provide a Saluting Their Service grant to assist in this project. I would very much like to thank all the people who were involved. On the day, the Oatley Public School captains Anna Sheehan and Jackson Ryan spoke with great reverence about the sacrifices of soldiers, particularly in World War I. I would like to thank them for their contribution. I would like to thank Principal Debbie Hunter and Ros Ingram from Oatley Public School, Bill Wright from the Oatley RSL Sub-Branch and Kim Wagstaff and Rodger Robertson from the Oatley Heritage and Historical Society. The reopening of the memorial is a great example of what can be done when communities come together to make good things happen.

Recently, I attended the 1st Padstow Heights Scout Group—a very active group with a long and proud history in the Padstow area. They are involved in all of the traditional Scouting activities, such as bushwalking and learning survival skills and so on. There are a number of issues about the amenity of the Scout Hall at Padstow Heights and its surrounds, and I am certainly seeking to assist the Scouting movement in addressing those concerns with the local council. I would like to thank James Sillato, the group leader, for inviting me along on the evening, and all of the other parents who do so much work to make Padstow Heights Scouts such a successful group in our local community.