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

I'd like to a knowledge Cowper Public School, which is celebrating 150 years this year. They held an event on 19 October with many past staff and students turning out to mark the occasion. I want to thank and congratulate the school staff, who put many hours into organising the day and collating lots of photos and memorabilia, including the principal, Sue Magarry; Tiarne Martin; Natalie Ensbey; Abby Nudd and James Wellard, along with Kelly Harrison and Chris Bale from the P? and Scott Hall, who organised for the old school bell to be restored for the event. An interesting story comes from one of the former students who attended the school in the early 1900s. The student left the school at a young age to go and work, before defending our country in World War I. He returned from war and went to Sydney to raise his family. The student's name was Lyall Howard, the father of the Hon. John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia. That is a very interesting part of the school's history. It was wonderful to see a small school like Cowper celebrate such a milestone. Congratulations to the community.

I'd like to recognise the Woolgoolga Rural Fire Brigade, who this year are celebrating 75 years of service to our community. They were established in 1949 and held an event to celebrate the brigade's rich history and acknowledge the remarkable contributions of members both past and present. I'd like to acknowledge Captain Scott Hodgkinson; Senior Deputy Samuel Fifita; brigade captains Carl Mower, Jacob Sutherland and Mark Osborn; and also Noel Bultitude OAM, who has been there for the entire 75 years of the brigade. By recognising you all, I recognise the current 35 members, who are longstanding contributors to the team.

I'd like to congratulate Woolgoolga Public School, who won the 14th annual Barney Barselaar Cup last month. They played Corindi Public School in the grand final, where they won 2-1. Other schools who played in the comp were Mullaway Public School, Sandy Beach Public and St Francis Xavier Primary School from Woolgoolga. Woolgoolga High School also provided all the referees for the day. The games were played in the memory of Barney, a student from St Francis Xavier who sadly passed away 16 years ago, aged nine. Barney's parents, Rob and Lainie, presented the winning trophy and said it was lovely to see the smiles, laughter and banter among the students. Congratulations to everyone involved.