Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Happy birthday, Dawn, and thank you for that precedent you just set.

I would like to give a shout-out to the parkruns my electorate and one just on the boundary of my electorate. Parkruns meet every Saturday morning and are run by volunteers for the community. Running is a key part of my life and a key part of our family life. I run with my children every Tuesday and Friday, and sometimes they join me for the parkruns on Saturday. We say the hardest part of it is putting your shoes on. Always turn up; never give up. Running is a metaphor for life.

To the three parkruns in my community, including the Warrandyte parkrun, where almost 8,000 people have finished and there have been 233 volunteers, I say thank you. To those in the Westerfolds parkrun—73,000 finishers and over 700 volunteers, and those hills are brutal. I experienced that recently. Just outside my electorate in the member for Chisholm's electorate is the Gardiners Creek parkrun, but many from my electorate use it. There have been 79,000 finishers and 992 volunteers, and you've got to dodge the off-lead dogs in that area. To the timekeepers—those who scan the barcodes, lift morale at the start, keep the pace and are there for you at the end—I want to say thank you. These are a wonderful part of our community, and I'm very grateful to all of you.