Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We recently celebrated a terrific milestone in our area: the 25th anniversary of St Clare's Catholic High School Hassall Grove. Founded in 1994, the school began with just 100 students but has now grown to become a fixture of our local community, with a cohort of over 500 students. As Hassall Grove has grown over the years, St Clare's has adapted to serve the growing needs of the community, with the school also commencing its first senior cohort this year. As part of the school's celebration, I was really pleased to attend a special mass to mark the feast of St Clare, who is the school's patron. The mass was also attended by the Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen, Bishop of Parramatta, who delivered the homily.

I would like to thank the broader school community, along with their new principal, Kevin Jones, for their commitment to our local area. I want to wish them all the best not just for the 25 years that they've just completed but for the next 25 years as they educate the next generation of local community leaders.

I'd like to take this chance to acknowledge some of the brave men and women from Chifley who recently travelled to fight bushfires raging in the Grafton region, 600 kilometres north of Sydney. Some of these fires have been burning since early September. While rain may have eased some conditions, there remain ongoing blazes and long-lasting damage from these terrible fires. From the Cumberland Zone fire brigade, which includes the Chifley electorate, over 150 firefighters made their way north to battle these terrible blazes. Firefighters from the Plumpton Rural Fire Brigade fought the Kaloe Mountain Trail fire, which I'm told grew to over 24,000 hectares in size, with a perimeter in excess of 300 kilometres, which is simply stunning. The courageous actions of these firefighters helped prevent the fire spreading to surrounding forests, with crews working night and day to keep the fires under control.

I just want to acknowledge the work and commitment of Plumpton rural firefighters Phil Cook, Daniel Anderson, Alan Barnes, John Foster and John Pryde, along with Eastern Creek firefighters Natalie Milligan, Matt Scott, Peter Anderson, Matthew and Michael Taylor, Alan Whitehead, Trevor Haskins, Michael O'Donovan, Yass Nijaat and Najee Sader, along with all those who travelled to the affected regions to assist local fire crews. You've made our area proud. I thank all those volunteers and people who commit to help out in the most difficult and trying of circumstances. My contribution today is in part a reflection of our local community's gratitude for what you do. We want you to know that, while you don't expect gratitude, we extend it to you.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note the member for Chifley's remarks and thank the firefighters also, because they are in my community.