Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like all Australians, I rejoiced over the weekend when the Socceroos won against Tunisia, our first World Cup win since 2010. Macarthur residents also had another reason to cheer during that match, when local Rosemeadow resident Isabelle Mitchell carried out the match ball in front of millions of viewers around the world. Isabelle was selected to participate when she won a joint competition by Football Australia and Kia to carry the match ball. Out of thousands of applicants, Isabelle was one of three Australian children chosen for the tournament—wonderful news.

I'm informed by her grandmother, Debbie, mother, Bec, and father, James, that Isabelle lives and breathes soccer, including at her local club, the Camden Tigers, where she plays in their under-14s squad. Isabelle represents many great things about our Australian and Macarthur communities. She is a proud Indigenous woman who is active in her sporting community and who attends her local public high school, Thomas Reddall, where I recently went to open their yarning circle.

I cannot think of anyone better than Isabelle Mitchell to represent our region and our nation at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and I thank her for doing so with pride and passion. We should be proud of the achievements of Australian women in the sporting world. I look forward to the success of our Matildas at next year's FIFA Women's World Cup, to be co-hosted here in Australia and in New Zealand. I'm sure that we'll see Isabelle wearing the Matildas jersey at a future World Cup, and I look forward to that with great pleasure.