Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Hunter is a breeding ground for young athletes. We have young people who are gifted and skilled in all kinds of sports, and it's an honour to be able to help a few who compete at an elite level by giving them a small amount of money to cover some of their expenses through the Local Sporting Champions grant scheme. Through this round of the Local Sporting Champions and Local Para Champions grants, I was able to help an amazing 25 young sports men and women who were competing at state, national or international level.

Khai Zenith represented Australia internationally in water polo in Germany; Joel Beashel represented Australia at the sailing world championships and the UK nationals; Samantha Clifton went to the Asian youth championships for tenpin bowling, as part of the national tenpin bowling team; Jake Riley competed in the 2023 all-schools golf championships; Ella Scaysbrook competed in the 2023 School Sport Australia 18 years and under golf championships; Ryvrr-lee Alo competed in the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League under-18s championships; Lachlan Morris competed at the Australian junior motocross championships in Darwin; Emma Dundas represented Northern NSW Football in the NTC challenge; Jacey Coote went to the Australian Karate Federation national championships in Western Australia; Bailey Wilton was selected for New South Wales in the under-16s national championships for basketball; Kobi Hodges was selected for New South Wales in the national state championships for water polo; Ameka Melmeth went to the School Sport Australia national basketball championships; Zane Burke competed in the Australian championships for BMX and won—well done, Zane, and keep up the good work; Riley Burgess competed in the Australian championships for motorcycling; Koby Kattau, representing Greta Workers Club, went to the NSW state junior championships for bowls; James Allerton competed at the same state championship; Xander Webber also competed in bowls and went to the state junior pairs and fours championships; Hailee Gibson competed in the Grafton under-15s state championship for hockey; Max Smith played rugby league in the New South Wales junior rugby union state championships; and Holley Burgess competed in the Tamworth Inter-Schools Horse Extravaganza.

Our para-athletes were represented strongly in swimming, with Emilee Pratt and Lexie Phillips competing at the national championships in Queensland and Porscha Jimmieson and Jakob Thompson competing at the Virtus Global Games in France. I look forward to seeing you at the Paralympics one day. The Hunter is also lucky to have Mackenzie Wills, who represented Australia in basketball at the world championships and the Virtus Global Games.

Congratulations to all the young athletes that competed and achieved so much. I hope to continue to watch you in the future, and I look forward to seeing your progress.