Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My speech today is about a young woman from my electorate, Sarah. She's known as Drag'n Fly Junior Dragster because she is a phenomenal junior drag racer. I first heard about Sarah's talents when I was out doorknocking with my dad in Langwarrin, and we met her dad, who couldn't wait to tell us about his 13-year-old daughter who was a drag racer and to show me her vehicle, the ZR3 Rocket, which is totally mind-blowing. If you don't know, drag racing is a type of motor racing. The cars compete, usually two at a time, to be first across a set finish line. It is, as you might understand, a male dominated sport. But not for Sarah. To my great delight, over the years Sarah and her parents have continued to keep me updated on her racing. This is the latest. Sarah came runner-up in the Australian Drag Racing Championship. Her dad tells me that they drove to Perth, for the second time in three months, leading the championship after winning in Mildura the week before. Things didn't quite go her way, but she ended up No. 2 in Australia. Her dad said he's proud of their achievement—because it's a family effort—after driving 21,000 kilometres over a nine-month season. I'm proud of Sarah too, and this whole parliament, I think, is now proud of her as well.