Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the local member for Chisholm, meeting the people who make Chisholm a better place is truly one of the best parts of my job. That's why it was such a pleasure to attend the annual civic awards ceremony at Whitehorse City Council on Australia Day. These awards are designed to recognise and promote the efforts of people and organisations that make worthy contributions to our community. I congratulate all award recipients, but I make special mention of one—Nathaniel Diong, Whitehorse Young Citizen of the Year.

Nathaniel founded the Future Minds Network, which is a startup that teaches young Australians the skills to gain employment and tackle the problems of tomorrow. Since Nathaniel founded the network—when he was just 16 years old—over 11,000 students from 50 cultural backgrounds have completed his programs. With the COVID-19 pandemic widely acknowledged to have disproportionately impacted our younger Australians, it is so heartening to see a local initiative geared towards getting young people into work and preparing them for the future. Well done, Nathaniel. I wish you every success in the future.