Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's always plenty happening in the great seat of Longman. This Sunday, I will be attending the Bribie OPA Greek Festival in Woorim on beautiful Bribie Island's surf side. There will be all things Greek there, including Greek dancing, music and food—I'm thinking of lamb—and many other events throughout the day. The festivities kick off at 8:30 am and run right through to 4.30 pm. Please come along and support this fantastic event. I hope to see you there.

The Olympics and Paralympics have now finished and, as is the case with all these events, I marvel at what these games bring to communities and individual nations. In a world where there is much turmoil, pain and suffering, the Olympics and Paralympics are very much a place where these troubles—for a short time, at least—are forgotten. They are also a time that unites citizens as nations, where they put aside their differences to cheer on their national heroes.

I'm so proud of all the athletes that either currently reside in Longman or have a connection to Longman, having spent much of their life there. Olympian Ella Connolly competed in the women's 4 x 100 metre relay, where they achieved fourth place in the final, and she placed sixth in her heat. Morayfield's Calab Law placed seventh in his individual 200-metre heat and was part of the 4 x 100 metre relay team that placed seventh in their heat.

Paralympian Lakeisha 'Lucky' Patterson will bring home a silver medal in the women's 400-metre medley, as well as placing fifth in both the 200-metre medley and the women's 100-metre freestyle. Brenden Hall won a bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle final and placed seventh in his 100-metre butterfly heat and sixth in his 100-metre backstroke heat. Ricky Betar won a bronze medal in the 200-metre medley and came sixth in the 100-metre backstroke and seventh in the 100-metre butterfly final. A special shout-out goes to head coach of the Paralympic team, Harley Connolly, who coaches out of the Burpengary aquatic centre right in Longman.

It will be my honour to welcome many of these athletes home next Monday at the Maroochydore Surf Club, where a 'welcome home and congratulations' event is being held for all Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay athletes. Well done to every athlete, irrespective of your result. Much of the time, the same amount of effort, sacrifice and dedication is invested for those athletes who win a medal and those who don't. So we thank you all for your efforts. Rest assured that all of Australia is very proud of you.

BIEPA, which stands for Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association, is a key organisation that helps keep Bribie the peaceful paradise that it is. Recently, I was pleased that they received funds through the federal Volunteer Grants program to purchase equipment for their turtle-tracking program. It's relatively unknown that Bribie Island has a turtle hatchery on it. Sadly, many turtles are lost due to not only natural causes but humans who unwittingly, through recreational endeavours, contribute to this loss. So, if you're four-wheel driving or camping on Bribie Island, please be responsible and be aware that we share this wonderful piece of Australia with other species. Thank you to BIEPA for all you do in raising awareness on Bribie.

It was a tough year for the Queensland teams in the NRL this year. The Broncos went from being grand finalists last year to missing the final series altogether. The Titans missed out on the finals, and Queensland lost the State of Origin. It was bittersweet; if Queensland had continued to dominate the State of Origin like we had, many people could have lost interest and turned off the game. So, from a 'being good for the game' point of view, it's good that New South Wales won, but, from a Queensland supporter's point of view, it definitely was not enjoyable.

The two NRL positives for me this year were the great showing by the Dolphins, who in just their second year narrowly missed out on the finals due to, ironically, a single-handed performance by a Queenslander, Kalyn Ponga, who plays for the Knights, who defeated them in the last game of the season. So now the entire state of Queensland will be behind the lone survivor in the NRL finals series, the Cowboys. In the AFL, the Brisbane Lions will again be contesting the AFL finals series and flying the Queensland flag and will hope to go one better than last year, where they narrowly lost the grand final. Go the Cowboys and go the Lions. Queenslander!