Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to commend Grafton High School for its performance in the New South Wales Combined High Schools Sports Association hockey finals in Sydney this week. Both the girls and boys sides made it to the top 10 teams in the state, which is an amazing result.

I want to acknowledge the girls team, led by the captain, Martina Williams, and the vice captain, Jess Sear; the goalkeepers, Jordan Skimming and Annabel Dungey; and Jessica Marsh, Julia Hennessy, Mikayla Chambers-Ward, Sophie Hinterholtz, Maia Adamson, Shanae Crispin, Shani Firth, Shelera and Shaniqua Williams—twins—Milla Stephenson and Mia Hayne. Injured players were Mackenna Ensby and Eliza Berrick, who are both NSW representatives. The coaches were Brenda Baker and Alana Keats

The boys team are also top 10 in the state. They were playing yesterday and are playing again today. Congratulations to the squad: Myles Adamson, Thomas Beohm, Jack Cheney, Darby Rouse, Zayden Third, Elijah Waite, Max Oxenbridge, Cooper Stephenson, Tyler Gooley, Eli Jones, Kade Simpson, Jackson Duroux, Zac Maginnity, Harry Oxenbridge, Joseph Nilon and their coach, Scott Smith.

This is an amazing achievement for Grafton High School, for both the boys and the girls team to make the top 10 in the state. They compete against schools that are far bigger and better resourced. Well done. I was cheering you both on yesterday and today.

On 23 September, in a few weeks time, the Lions Road near Kyogle will celebrate its 50th anniversary. This is one truly amazing community story. The Kyogle Lions Club were the force behind the Lions Road—and they named it after themselves, as they should. They funded it, dug its pathway through the ranges, laid bitumen, built bridges, and cooked meals for the people who volunteered to help them do it. The NSW government in 1969 rejected the proposal to build the road, but that didn't stop Kyogle.

I could mention literally hundreds of individuals who were involved, but I will just touch on a couple. Firstly, Jack Hurley was a great community contributor and the driving force behind it, as was Alan Brown. They were both foundation members of the Kyogle Lions Club. Lots of farmers donated tractors, including Murphy Stanfield, who donated the biggest tractor at the time, his D8 Caterpillar tractor, and supervised the road's construction. Mel Hogan and Athel Matheson donated tractors and did a lot of work, as, indeed, did all the members of the Kyogle Lions Club. The current president of the Kyogle Lions Club, Bob Scarborough, is the only active member of the club who worked on the road, but there are still lots of people in the community who contributed to it.

The current Lions Road committee—Col Garred, Col Griffiths, Norm Rogers and Francis O'Reilly—volunteer their time. There is a donation box as you go to use that road where you can donate, because it's maintained by the club itself. They liaise with the council on road maintenance. The Lions Club will present Kyogle Council with a $25,000 donation and the Scenic Rim Regional Council with a $15,000 donation—all proceeds from the road's donation box. The road has a very special place within Kyogle and the wider region community because it's a really great story about Kyogle's can-do attitude. Happy birthday to the Lions Road.

Question agreed to.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 11:38