Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australian National Flag Day was held on 3 September, and it was a day to celebrate the contribution of our flag to our national civic life and as a symbol of this great nation. It was a day to remind ourselves of the first moment our national icon was flown over the dome of that wonderful Exhibition Building in Melbourne. It's also an opportunity to reflect on the symbolism of the flag, and that's what we did in the Goldstein electorate. We produced a booklet on the history and the traditions of the flag. There were people who designed the modern Australian flag, but, more critically, did you know, Deputy Speaker, one of the five winners of the original flag competition was a resident of the Goldstein community living in Beaumaris? He was a lovely fellow by the name of Ivor Evans. To honour his legacy and to celebrate his achievement, we produced a booklet that educated people about the flag, and we presented new flags to some of the schools in the Goldstein electorate.

I'd like to acknowledge St Finbar's Primary School and particularly their principal, Pat Berlingeri, who was wonderful in hosting us. At Katandra School, we had a ceremony in which Bella presented the Australian flag, Jackson the Aboriginal flag and Cooper the Torres Strait Islander flag, and I acknowledge Rhett Watts, the principal and Wendy Sheppard, the leading teacher. At Hampton Primary School, we met with principal Sue Knight and at Wesley College, Elsternwick, we met with the head of campus, Jacinta Janssens, and the head of the junior school, Kieran McCrohan. And at Stella Maris' Flag Day, we had a celebration with Rob Horwood, the principal, and Yvan Frederic, the deputy principal.

The celebrations keep coming in the Goldstein community, including of course, for our recipients of Local Sporting Champion grants: Emily Ryan, for participating in the national Junior Athletics Championships; Rachel Heenan, a player in the Australian Indoor Cricket Championships; Sophie Varis, for performing in the Association of National Aerobic Championships; Madison Chong and Bryanna Arnold, who are both flying disc superstars in the Australian Youth Ultimate Championships; Lachlan Jackett-Simpson, for swimming in the 2018 School Sport Australia Championships; Samuel Kay and William Kay, for both playing in the Australian Junior Volleyball Championships; Jackson Jury, who was selected to the School Sport Victoria Team Vic State Team in Rugby League for 12 Years and under to compete in the School Sport Australia Championships in Adelaide in August 2018; Lauren Fagan and Stephanie Kelly, for participating in the 2018 Federation Touch Youth World Cup—a game that I like to play, and I'm proud to say I got the final winning try this morning; and Ewan Smith, a swimmer in the School Sport Australia Championships. To all those people who have competed and who make our community proud, well done! We revere your hard work and your determination. That's why we acknowledge you as incredible local community sporting champions.