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

On 31 August, I attended a special assembly at Padstow North Public School for Debbie Da Silva and her daughter Brianna, who have been raising funds for the Cancer Council. Debbie and Brianna both cut off more than 30 centimetres of hair to be donated to the Princess Charlotte Alopecia Program. This is the second time the hair-cutting event has been staged. I remember being at the school back in 2014 for a similar event.

Debbie and Brianna's commitment to the cause is really quite exceptional. In 2010, not long after Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer, she donated her hair rather than lose it through the chemotherapy process. Brianna followed in her footsteps in that fundraising activity at the age of seven and has done so again now at the age of 10. More than $1,300 has been raised by the family so far. I thank the Padstow North Public School community for their support of Debbie and Brianna. In particular, I thank Principal Natalie Armstrong for everything she does in our community.

On 26 August, I visited the Elias Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Centre in Penshurst to recognise the outstanding achievements of a number of the students. Elias Abacus aims to teach children mathematics skills, specifically the skills involved in the ancient art of the use of the abacus. Six of the kids from the Elias centre recently went to Taiwan to participate in the 2017 World City Cup Competition in abacus and mental arithmetic.

Four of the kids from Penshurst won gold medals on the world stage at the world mental arithmetic championships in Taiwan, and two won silver medals. It is fantastic to see in our local community such high levels of excellence in this ancient discipline. Congratulations to Victor Yu, the founder of Elias Abacus, and to all the team at the centre.

On 24 August, I visited Kogarah Community Services for the naming of three community rooms. These rooms, used by the community, previously had generic titles. The centre decided to name them after people who were very important in the history of Kogarah Community Services—Max Turner, the founder; Yvonne Drury, the first community coordinator; and Daria Moorgas, a longstanding volunteer. It was a great ceremony. Thank you to Shelly Ross, the executive officer, and Cathy Nisbet at Kogarah Community Services. It's a very important hub in the Kogarah region. It was a great initiative to name these rooms after important people in its history.