Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are many amazing community leaders and stories in my electorate of Robertson that I have become aware of as I continue to meet and talk with my constituents in the community.

Over Saturday 19 November, across Australia, McDonald's restaurants hosted their annual McHappy Day, which is a day committed to raising awareness and funds for its charitable arm, Ronald McDonald House.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 13 : 18 to 13 : 29

I had the pleasure of being invited to help on McHappy Day at Woy Woy McDonald's. Here I met with the Central Coast McDonald's franchisee, Mr Ron Mussalli, and the superhardworking zone manager, Cassandra Webber. Ron and Cassie took me through the excellent work Ronald McDonald House Charities undertake and the impact this has, assisting families with sick children across the nation.

They also provided me with an insightful tour of the McDonald's restaurant at Woy Woy and showed me the behind-the-scenes equipment and technology customers are often not aware of that ensure orders are completed in a timely manner. Following this, I got straight into helping raise funds for McHappy Day, helping collect spare coins as customers arrived at the restaurant. I even helped on the drive-through, helping organise orders and handing them to customers. I can confirm that I got every order correct and did not miss a nugget. The entire hour that I was there was a thrill, and I know that McDonald's restaurants across the Central Coast and across Australia raised a great deal of money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. I thank Ron, Cassie and all their employees who helped to ensure a successful fundraising effort on McHappy day in 2022.

During the day on Friday 18 November I received a message about a fundraising campaign organised by the Terrigal Trojans rugby team. They were undertaking a massive 24-hour rowing fundraising event. I came down and saw the campaign in full swing at Impact Gym in Erina. I've been told that, at the completion of the 24-hour period, the campaign had managed to raise a phenomenal $9,480 and had rowed a massive 411 kilometres collectively, an unreal achievement for the Terrigal Trojans, and one that the whole community on the Central Coast can be very proud of. This is the second year the Terrigal Trojans have completed a Trojan row, and I wish to thank all the players who were involved in this year's campaign, as well as staff, coaches and supporting businesses, on a successful fundraising event.

Some of these members include the team at Kadyn Drainage; the Traden team, Craig McWilliam, Karen Stanton, Daniel Stephenson, Adam McCormick, Anthony Watmough, Darren Higgins, Brett Stewart, Brent Kite and Shaun Timmins; Glenn Stewart and his team at Oaks Services Group; Jamie Crookes and everyone at Richard Crookes Construction; Wayne Pearce and his business, Wayne Pearce Advantage; Mick, Belinda and the team at Impact Gym; Luke and Rowan Tucker at Tuxco; Jason Stenning, Melanie Stenning, Jon Fleming and everyone at Industree Group; Alan and Lorraine Gaffney from Terrigal Benevolent Committee; John Stevens and the Stevens Group; Simon Denmeade and the team at ConnectSydney; Peter Cox at Leadership Dynamics; and Adam Rose and his family, Michelle, Jordyn and Tameka.

I know that the funds that were raised by this group during this massive fundraising effort—all 411 kilometres of that fundraising effort—will be put to good use. As the federal member for Robertson, I look forward to supporting this community and really getting behind other fundraising efforts—in particular, this fundraising effort, because it does such good work through the community. The people whom I've mentioned here are a testament to the people not just on the Central Coast and not just in the electorate of Robertson but right across the country. They are a fantastic group of people and they absolutely must be supported, as must, also, fundraising and charity groups right across the electorate.

In regard to the McHappy Day fundraising event, Ronald McDonald House does such great work for sick children across the country. As an emergency doctor working in our public health system, particularly when I undertook a paediatric rotation, I could see the tangible results and what Ronald McDonald House does for communities and for sick children. They really do fantastic work, in particular in the medical oncology space, in assisting families and sick children who are undergoing treatment for cancer in the community.

With that, I want to thank the team at Woy Woy McDonald's for McHappy Day. I'd also like to thank the team at Terrigal Trojans for their fundraising efforts in the last month.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson for his forbearance.