Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was pleased to present awards to the St John Ambulance Hornsby Division and Hornsby cadet division, recipients of the Long Service Medal who've committed their lives to serving with St John Ambulance. I also awarded recipients of the New South Wales Premier's citation and volunteer recognition awards from the Centre for Volunteering.

In 2018 alone, St John Ambulance trained a million people in first aid; provided half a million volunteer hours for first aid and event health; provided 3½ million hours of community care; and transported 160,000 non-emergency patients to hospitals, community or mental health services.

St John was founded in Australia in 1883 and has since developed into the organisation we know today. The Hornsby division of St John Ambulance comprises 50 officers and 35 cadets. The division was founded in 1958. The division alone averages 5,000 hours in the local community each year and helps over 200 patients. There are a number of St John members who are professional paramedics, doctors or allied health professionals while others have no professional health background.

The St John long service awards have been awarded by the order since 1898. It's a well-deserved acknowledgment of many hours of volunteering. Recipients of the order of St John long service medal included Malcolm Knight, who served for 35 years: Condy Kwan and Lachlan Liao, 20 years; Linda Xu, 15 years; Kirsten Burghard and Nicole Simon, 10 years; Benjamin Mead and Andrea Scenna, five years; and Daynah Nash and Eloise Riviere, three years.

The Premier of New South Wales Bushfire Emergency Citation is a new award established this year by the Premier to recognise the outstanding contribution of volunteers and service agency personnel who played a significant role in the emergency response effort to combat the 2019-20 bushfires. St John Ambulance volunteers tirelessly worked during the 2019-20 bushfires with many being deployed to various evacuation centres providing medical services. The Premier's citation is an award that recognises their efforts. Recipients of the 2019-20 bushfire citations were Pierre Baudou-Daniel, Kirsten Burghard, Rachel Chapman, Samantha Davis, Marco Franse, Callum Gray, Malcolm Knight, Lachlan Liao and Daynah Nash.

It's also worth noting this year that many St John Ambulance volunteers have also served on the front line during COVID at testing clinics and hotels, and checking temperatures at events. Volunteer recognition awards were given to Patrick Gibb, Amanullah Haidary, David James, Michelle Ly, Emma Mead, Melissa Ng, Aidan O'Sullivan, Adelene Ong, Anthony Salole, Kathryn Scott, Divyansh Sharma, Andrea Sono, Richard Wessen and Tiffany Willis.

I also had the privilege of awarding cadets with their service stars. Congratulations to Jia Dong, Anna Hannselmann, Bailey Chapman, Jie Yi Choong, Mika Kato, Abby Kidston, Tiana Kim, Crystal Li, Xiao Marshall-Taylor, Vanessa Tan, Katrina Thorvaldson, Roy Zhou and Stanley Zhou. On behalf of everyone in the Berowra electorate, congratulations to everyone in St John Ambulance.