Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Saturday 19 November was International Men's Day—an important day to recognise the valuable contribution and the fundamental role that men play in society. It also gives us a chance to teach our young up-and-coming men about the importance of treating women with dignity and respect, to mentor them and to let them be the best men they can possibly be. On Friday 18 November, an event was hosted at Ocean International Resort, where over 120 people—men, women and our youths—came and had a fantastic morning.

It coincided with our 2022 Mackay Man of the Year award. I'm pleased to announce that Keiran Horsfall was successful in becoming Mackay Man of the Year. He is a senior constable in the Queensland police force—one of Queensland's finest—but he's also a father, a husband, and a mentor to many of Mackay's youth. He does an amazing job mentoring these young folk almost every day. He's instrumental in Project Booyah, in which he sits down with some of these young men who have got themselves on the wrong side of the tracks, has a discussion with them and brings them right back. I'm proud to say that, at the breakfast, there was a young man there who had a bit of a sketchy past, but Keiran's help brought him back on track and he has now got gainful employment and is actually going very, very well. There were also two runners-up: Col Benson and Bill Lansbury. Col is a retired serviceman. He looks after the Air Force memorial at Bakers Creek and can always be found at events such as Remembrance Day and Anzac Day, where he is constantly helping the community. Bill Lansbury is a husband, a father and a long-time Rotarian and is involved in many charities throughout Mackay.

Frank Cowell organised this event, with his committee: Councillor Fran Mann, Councillor Belinda Hassan and ex-CEO of RACQ CQ Rescue Ian Rowan. Frank is also Mackay's Citizen of the Year. He's instrumental in Shed Happens. Shed Happens is where people can go and have a cup of coffee, sit down and talk about blokes' issues. So well done to Frank.

Blokes, on average, make up seven out of nine suicides in Australia, and that is just an unforgiving statistic. We need to look after our men. We need to look after our boys. Well done, Frank Cowell and your team.