David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In a few weeks, on 31 March, we'll come together to celebrate and acknowledge the 20 years during which Chris Bailey has been the commanding officer of the Air League Riverwood Hornets Squadron. Chris is a tremendous person who has done a wonderful job with the Riverwood Air League squadron, making it, we believe, one of the largest, if not the largest, Air League squadrons anywhere in Australia, with more than 100 active members. The squadron are seen in our community everywhere, with their band getting behind all sorts of community events like Anzac Day ceremonies, and they have competed successfully on the world stage at international band contests in Denmark and Japan. Chris joined the Air League in 1978 when he was 12 years old, and he has added such an extraordinary amount to our community in that time. I congratulate Chris on his 20 years as commanding officer. I very much look forward to the function on 31 March, and wish Chris and the squadron all the best for the upcoming year.

On 23 February I attended the Coolaburoo Neighbourhood Centre annual general meeting in Padstow. Coolaburoo is an absolute linchpin of the Padstow and broader Bankstown community, providing dozens of critical social services to our area. It runs home support programs, personal care visits, seniors programs, handyman services and a whole range of different activities. On the day, we learnt that the 50 volunteers at Coolaburoo had provided well in excess of 1,000 hours of volunteer time during the year, which is very much appreciated by our community. I thank the manager, Rossanna Umansky, and her team for all they do at Coolaburoo. It's a fantastic institution in the heart of Padstow. It was great to see the leader of the Pink Hammers, a home handiwork group, and people from the ladies quilting group there as well. Congratulations to Coolaburoo.

On 21 February I hosted an afternoon tea in my electorate office for the local winners of the Local Sporting Champions Grants for this year. It was great to acknowledge them. We had a number of winners, including Joshua Wilkie in open water swimming, Grace Elliot in cross-country, Eliza Johnston and Kiera Hajek in sports aerobics, Conor Molloy in rugby union, Kai Kamikura in football, Montana Kilpatrick in softball, Abbie Purvis in softball, Queenie Chan in figure skating, Lauren Carey in athletics, Hayley Rowlands in open water swimming and Kai Hammond in athletics. They all did a fantastic job and are a tremendous testament to their families, communities and schools. Congratulations to all.