Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Duniam, for your question and for the non-ironical adjectives associated with it. The 15 amazing athletes that have represented our great nation in South Korea over the past few weeks have all done us exceptionally proud. They've all shown resilience, courage and heart, not only to make it to Pyeongchang but to participate in what for us as a nation has been a highly successful Winter Paralympics campaign.

Sport has the unique ability to unite people in communities and encourages everybody to reach their potential. Our elite athletes such as our Paralympians inspire Australians to have a go and participate in sports at all levels, and I thank them for their contribution to our sporting communities. I would like to congratulate the whole team—led by our chef de mission, Nick Dean—and their coaches and families, for an outstanding performance over the last few weeks. A special mention goes to our medal winners.

Simon Patmore from Nundah in Queensland won Australia's first gold medal in 16 years for the para snowboard cross, and I tell you: we're not bad at surfing in this country and we're not bad at para snowboard cross, or, indeed, anything that looks like surfing on ice. This is a significant achievement both in itself and because he's the first male in Australian sporting history to have won a medal at both the summer and winter Olympic Games. Simon claimed bronze in a 200-metre track event at the London 2012 Summer Paralympic Games. So congratulations, Simon, for an outstanding performance in Pyeongchang.

Melissa Perrine with her sighted guide, Christian Geiger, competed in her third Winter Olympics campaign and won two bronze medals, one in the super combined and one in the giant slalom para alpine skiing event. Melissa narrowly missed out on taking home a third bronze, coming fourth in another event. So congratulations to her for her very strong performance across all those events. We can all acknowledge the importance of the—