Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is great to be able to rise here and acknowledge the wonderful work that my state schools do on the northern Gold Coast and to support the principals of those schools as they seek to make a difference. It is great to see the member for Lalor in the House, who I believe is a former state school principal. It has been a real privilege to support so many of the fetes of our state schools on the Gold Coast. It is great to be able to be the major sponsor for the Biggera Waters State School fete and the Coombabah State School fete. Our office will provide a range of free equipment—including marquees, tables, chairs and, in fact, anything we have—to support those schools to achieve their funding targets.

All funds raised by our great school fetes go back to P&Cs, which are all about supporting their schools. The communities are stumping up. We are seeing some really great changes. Biggera Waters State School, in their biannual fetes, made $43,000 this year, which is an absolute and utter record. Coombabah State School likewise had a great result.

The next fete we are going to support will be the Pacific Pines State High School 'Fiesta', which I think is a wonderful initiative by the new principal at that high school. They are looking to raise a whole swag of money to upgrade a bus. It is a great pleasure of mine to be the major sponsor for that. They are engaging the school and the broader community in the work that they are doing with market stalls, food trucks, tray displays, old McDonald's farm, a cake-decorating competition—which I will not be involved in but may well judge—and sports training sessions. It is on Sunday, 12 March from 9 am. I think it is going to be a great event.

Pacific Pines State High School is a tremendous school. I recently spoke to the year 12s as they had their leadership commencement. It is an activity I have been involved in for almost a decade. It is one of the great priorities I put in my diary. I have not missed a single one. I spoke to their year 12s at Pacific Pine State High School and I encouraged them with three words: be, big, culture. To be big people, to be kind hearted and to be compassionate. Before we can have, we have got to do and before we do, we have to be. Let us be the types of people we want to be. I encouraged them to be big, to be big hearted, to be big dreamers, to the big thinkers, to be big in example, to rise above any circumstance and to be big people. Lastly, I encouraged that great bunch of year 12s to understand the importance of the culture that they are going to develop in their school and amongst their cohort—likes those they seek to lead. Drucker said, 'culture eats strategy for breakfast'. I think Drucker is right: If we get our culture right then strategy will follow seamlessly and easily, as will achievement. I am looking forward this year to see what Pacific Pines State High School can do. I am looking forward to their fiesta and I am looking forward to their year 12 leaders being, being big and being big in culture.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for three minutes constituency statements has expired; however, if no member present objects, I will allow the period for statements to continue for another 30 minutes. There being no objection I call the member for Dobell.