Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Whilst being back in the electorate of Swan, I caught up with Christopher Turner and his mum Alex to hear about his trip to Canberra in August. Chris is a year 8 student at Aquinas College. He loves sport. He enjoys school and hanging out with his mates, and he had a great time on Rottnest Island during the school holidays. Chris also has a Cochlear implant. At just 17 months of age, Chris was diagnosed with a hearing loss. After his family moved to Perth six years ago, Chris enrolled in the Telethon Speech & Hearing School Support (Outpost) program at Aquinas. He has continued to excel ever since.

As I said, Chris and his parents came to Canberra as part of the Power of Speech event. Chris delivered a fantastic speech on the topic of ensuring the future for people with hearing loss to a number of parliamentary colleagues. Chris was just one of the six Australian and New Zealand young deaf people invited to speak at the event. He spoke confidently on the challenges that he has faced and the opportunities ahead of him in the future. Chris and his mum called into my office during the school holidays. It was great to be able to hear about his big trip to Canberra. Chris, you're a remarkable young man and a credit to your parents, Alex and Michael. I know you have a very bright future ahead of you. I also thank Aquinas College for running such an important program with the Telethon Speech & Hearing group.