Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party, Assistant Minister for Children and Families) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Capricornia, as we all know by now, is a diverse and wonderful part of the globe—from golden beaches to arid interior; from coral to coal to cattle. As we reach the conclusion of this exciting and interesting year, I've been reflecting on the highlights from around my great electorate, and I'd like to share those reflections with the Chamber.

The year 2018 has been a year of great advances and great intrigue, and a year of great travel for me once again as I get around Capricornia. One of the greatest highlights of 2018 was meeting young Chelsea Line from Moranbah. Chelsea is a passionate young woman devoted to her favourite sports: cheerleading and gymnastics. Eleven-year-old Chelsea is also a rather successful policy lobbyist. Along with her JDRF teammates, Chelsea visited Parliament House earlier this year to advocate for increased understanding of and assistance for type 1 diabetes. Chelsea does all these things while also living with the difficult reality of the autoimmune disorder herself. Due to her diabetes, Chelsea endures a barrage of finger pricks, blood tests, calculations and insulin injections throughout her day, just to keep healthy. Chelsea is an inspiration to us all and to everyone that meets her, and I know that she'll be pleased to know her lobbying has been worthwhile, with Minister Hunt recently announcing support for adult diabetics to access constant glucose monitoring systems, previously only subsidised for children. This means a great deal to many diabetics in Capricornia, and I have been overwhelmed by the response from our community to this news.

Max Tapp is a typically humble teenage man from Emu Park who this week was honoured in Parliament House for doing something amazing. Max was awarded the Rescue of the Month award for August from Surf Life Saving Australia. Max is a keen young lifesaver, and his actions earlier this year did just that—saved a life. While on a family holiday on the Gold Coast, Max came across a scene that would have caused many others to freeze. A man was unconscious and receiving very poor resuscitation assistance from a couple of passers-by. Max didn't freeze though, and instantly engaged the knowledge and skills his lifesaving training had instilled. Max took over CPR assistance, continuing until the ambulance officers arrived. The patient survived and undoubtedly owes his life to the fast-thinking actions of this young hero from Emu Park. This just shows how real the lifesaver moniker is—it is at the core of everything that lifesavers do, and they just might save yours one day.

This year, 2018, also saw the great triannual event that brings Central Queensland both to a stop and to fever pitch at the same time. Beef Australia celebrated its 30th anniversary this year by holding the best Beef Australia exhibition at the Rockhampton showgrounds yet. The expo featured over 2,000 stud cattle, hundreds of trade fair exhibitors, a nationwide carcass competition, delicacies from across the globe and over 100,000 attendees across the seven days of the massive event. It was a shame that budget week happened to coincide with Beef Australia this year as I, unfortunately, missed most of the event. I did however take the Deputy Prime Minister and a group of my colleagues back up on the Friday, and we all enjoyed what we got to experience. The Beef Ball was every bit the highlight it always is. While the economic boon this event brings to the region is magnificent, many will be pleased to get three years to prepare for the next one! My hat goes off to the Beef Australia team, including outgoing chair and CEO, Blair Angus and Denis Cox. These two men have overseen the past two expos and have elevated it beyond the region and created a truly international event.

It is a shame that, with only five minutes, I don't have the time to discuss more highlights, as Capricornia provides many. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in my Capricornia electorate, both those who support and those who don't. It's an immense privilege to be able to represent you all in this place and be part of the Central Queensland community. I couldn't do it without our tireless volunteers and my hardworking staff, who serve me well. Thank you to the 2018 Capricornia office: Kylie, Nicole, Karen, Alex, Janine, Tory, our beloved DLO Belinda, Louise, Julie, Lanie, Jack, Christina, Sarah, Rebecca and, of course, Douglas.

Merry Christmas to everyone in this place: Deputy Speaker, friend and foe. May we all get our own slice of peace over the summer break.