Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Friday, 16 March, was the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. This year, more than 4,000 schools and community groups took a stand against bullying, among them Leura Public School. I visited Leura Public School to present them with a new Australian flag, but, at the end of the assembly, awards were given out to the students for their antibullying posters, so I got a chance to see the wonderful efforts they made. Not only was I amazed at the quality and the artistic talent; importantly, the message that those posters were sending was loud and clear, which was: bullying is not acceptable. Those posters not only featured in our local paper, the Blue Mountains Gazette, but were hung on the walls at Leura Public School, which wants to ensure that the commitment to end bullying is permanent and not a one-day wonder. Congratulations to students Madi Saez, Eden Opie and Levi Russell on their winning poster.

The stand against bullying comes in many forms. It might be covering your school in posters, standing together on playing fields to make an antibullying slogan or a specialised lesson plan. But, no matter what form it took in schools in my electorate of Macquarie, the message was the same—Bullying. No Way! We all know the profound effect that bullying can have, particularly on young children. No-one should be made to feel left out, alone or unwanted. Getting this message across is something we have to keep doing.