Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Olympics might be over, but we're only halfway; we've got the Paralympics coming up. Like every member of this place, I had a number of participants in the Olympics, and I do want to give them a shout-out, because they performed exceptionally well, coming from regional Queensland and going all the way to Paris.

Tarin Gollshewsky is a teacher in Bundaberg, would you believe? She made her Olympic debut in the discus. She went in ranked 30th. She finished in 15th place and threw a personal best of 62.36 metres. I'm sure Ms Gollshewsky will be warmly welcomed back by her students and pupils. They'll be very excited to hear all about the Olympics.

Matt Hauser, the triathlon man from Hervey Bay, finished seventh. That is Australia's best men's result in the Olympics in two decades. He is a machine. He was part of the mixed relay, and Team Australia finished in 12th place. Of course, we all saw the footage of the swimming in the Seine, so he should get an award for bravery as well!

In swimming, Isaac Cooper from Bundaberg swam in the 100-metre backstroke. He was part of the 4 x 100-metre medley relay team, which placed sixth in the final. He is an incredible athlete. He works really hard.

Rebecca Greiner from Bundaberg, a member of the Hockeyroos, made her Olympic debut as well. The Hockeyroos were unbeaten in pool B but, unfortunately, went down to China in the quarterfinals.

Shannon Davey is the boy from Narrabri, but he moved to Bundaberg to train with Attila Kovacs, so we're claiming him. He's with us. He's in the green-and-gold tracksuit, so he's definitely one of ours in Australia. He trains at the Attila Boxing Academy.

In the Paralympics we've got some absolute champions. Rheed McCracken from Bundy is in the 100-metre T34 and the 800-metre T34. This will be his fourth Paralympics. He won silver in Tokyo, he won silver in Rio, he won silver in London, and I know he's going to go all-out to get one more at the Paralympics in Paris.

Sam Schmidt, the Bundaberg discus thrower in the F38, competed in the Tokyo Paralympics, where she finished sixth. She came into my office just in the last couple of weeks. She's a lovely young lady. I think my staff were more excited to meet her than anyone else. She was very much welcomed. She is just a ball of fun.

Keira Stephens from Hervey Bay swims the 100-metre breaststroke SB9 and the 200-metre individual medley SM10. She made her Paralympics debut in Tokyo, where she won bronze and broke the Australian record with a personal best.

In the last few seconds I've got, I thank one of my staff: Liz Carson. Liz has put in her notice after nine years of service to my office as a media adviser. Everyone in this place knows it's the media adviser that gets the 4 am call to see if the boss can be on at five. They also get the late-night call to show up to run the live view for Sky. Liz has been a wonderful part of my office, and she leaves with our gratitude and my gratitude. I wish her and the girls the best of luck in her new ventures. Hopefully, we'll still see you out on the polling booth, Liz; we'll be looking forward to some more help! Good luck with the new adventure, and thank you so much for your service. You've been a wonderful part of the team.