Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to announce that on Friday the 13th—a lucky day of course—the South Australian chapter of the ICPA, the Isolated Children's Parents' Association, will be meeting in Port Augusta. I will be attending their conference. This wonderful group of people are, as their website says, 'The voice of mums and dads living, working and educating children in the bush,' and long may it be so. There are many things the Commonwealth does to assist these parents, but, certainly, the living-away-from-home allowances and the travel allowances only meet a small portion of the fees that these people have to face. I continue to work with them to put their case for the government to look at these particular allowances again. They've been very grateful that the Sky Muster satellite system is now providing a good uninterrupted service for the delivery of School of the Air lessons.

As a plug for the conference, the keynote speaker will be Alex Thomas. Alex was raised in the outback, if you like, on Parnaroo cattle station. She left and now runs a life and well-being organisation which helps people get their lives in order, particularly those living in remote communities, so I'm looking forward to Alex's address next Friday.