Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate an outstanding local resident by the name of Sally Francis who resides in my electorate and who was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Queen's Birthday honours list and most recently received the 2020 Holt Australia Day Award. Not only has Sally resided within the community for over 50 years but she has contributed to the local community continuously over that period of time. At the age of four, Sally was taught by her mother, a top-level riding coach, how to ride and communicate with horses. It was at this stage that Sally discovered her passion for riding. She now teaches riders of all levels at her Tooradin property and is developing a trail-riding challenge course for people with disabilities.

In 1986, Sally started her journey at Riding for the Disabled Association of Victoria and, over the years, she has been a volunteer coach, trainer and mentor. Over her years of riding, Sally has been part of the Australian Paralympic equestrian team. Her passion has taken her all over the world. She assisted at the Paralympics in Atlanta in 1996 and at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. She became assistant coach for the Australian para-equestrian team at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008. At the 2012 Paralympics and at the 2016 Rio Paralympics she led the team as, effectively, team manager. She is responsible for the overall management of the team.

Sally has many attributes and makes key contributions to her community and she also makes her town work. She has been quoted as saying: 'It's just so rewarding to see kids with disabilities communicating with the horses and communicating with me and the other people who are also helping them. In turn, just preparing them for life and improving their general living skills is so rewarding.' I rise today to thank Sally and to acknowledge her for her tireless efforts. (Time expired)