David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 27 September I attended the annual awards presentation of the St George Basketball Association. As always, it was a fantastic night. I really want to thank Ray Barbi, Val Stoddart, Anna Pazanin and everyone who makes St George Basketball Association such a fundamental part of our community. Ray Barbi works harder than anyone in our community for his organisation. He is deeply committed to the St George Basketball Association, and it's wonderful to see the association flourishing. They need more facilities, and they need better facilities. Ray and the association will continue to campaign for that. I want to congratulate all the people who were acknowledged on the night, the winners of the Banks outstanding sporting achievement awards and everyone else who was there. Thank you, St George Basketball Association, for everything you do.

Nan Tien Temple in Berkeley near Wollongong is an extremely important part of our community. On 22 September, I attended its 30th anniversary celebrations. I was joined by other members of the parliament, including the Assistant Treasurer. I want to thank Venerable Abbess Manko and all of the other venerables who were there for everything that Nan Tien does for our community not only through its spiritual guidance but also through the Nan Tien Institute, which was opened about 10 years ago. It is a higher education institution of high reputation. Thank you, Nan Tien, and thank you to BLIA, Buddha's Light International Australia, for all the great work that you do in our community.

Also on 22 September I attended the Connells Point market day. Thank you to Patrick Wedes who conceived of this idea for a market day last year. This year was the second year. The first year was great, and the second was even better. There were heaps of people there enjoying all the different activities. There were 37 stalls. The SES was there. You could learn to sail. There were lots of free events for children, and there were lots of local small businesses there. It was a fantastic day with beautiful sunshine. Connells Point was seen to advantage on the day. Patrick, thank you for having that idea, thank you for making it happen and thank you for bringing it to our local community.

Penshurst is a beautiful place, and it is fantastic that it now has Project Penshurst 2222 to stand up for it. Nicky Parras and everyone who's involved in Project Penshurst are passionate about making the suburb the best it can be. They have a wonderful idea about creating a park in the disused land next to the railway station. That's a great idea. The state government should support it. They have lots of other important ideas about improving the streetscape of Penshurst, improving the roads and increasing community safety. So to Nicky and the whole team at Project Penshurst 2222, it's great to be able to support you. Thank you for everything you do.