Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate a generous and courageous member of our northern beaches community. Life member of the Avalon Beach Surf Life Saving Club, a former and the longest-serving club captain, Roger Sayers was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his lifelong bravery and commitment to the surf lifesaving movement. When asked if he had done any daring rescues, Mr Sayers was more than modest, commenting that conducting a rescue may not feel incredibly difficult to him but it means a lot to the people you are helping. Mr Sayers had some advice for people swimming at the beach: they should always swim between the flags and know their limits. The ocean is a powerful force and, after lifetime of lifesaving, Mr Sayers knows it is not a force to be reckoned with.

In addition to his community service, Mr Sayers has also been a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 50 years working across several departments. Recently, Mr Sayers retired from the Treasury, where he had spent 22 years as a principal economic analyst. As we do all great economists, we need to thank Roger for his ongoing community service and his many years of dedication to our wonderful nation, both in economics and surf lifesaving. Because of you, Roger, Avalon was and remains a safe beach.