Get Involved - Parliament

Camden Electorate Australia Day Events

Published on: February 2020

Record: HANSARD-1323879322-109864

Camden Electorate Australia Day Events

Mr PETER SIDGREAVES (Camden) (12:08):

:12 I move:

That this House:

(1)Congratulates Camden Council, Liverpool City Council and Wollondilly Shire Council on their Australia Day events.

(2)Notes Australia Day events in the Camden electorate included the Macarthur Lions Street Parade, citizenship ceremonies and Australian of the Year Awards.

(3)Congratulates St Pauls Catholic Primary School on its successful fundraising efforts for the region's firefighters.

(4)Acknowledges Australia Day is important for communities to come together and heal after the recent devastating bushfires. The Camden electorate takes in all of the Camden Council and part of the Wollondilly Shire Council and Liverpool City Council. The councils are to be commended for the Australia Day events and activities they put on for their local communities. I congratulate each of them. I will go into detail about the Australia Day events organised by Camden Council while the member for Wollondilly and the member for Holsworthy will do the same for Wollondilly Shire Council and Liverpool City Council respectively. On Australia Day this year thousands of people from the Camden community came together to enjoy the Camden Council's Australia Day festivities for 2020. Australia Day in Camden celebrates everything that is great about Camden and our nation, and how lucky we are.

This year the Camden community also stopped to acknowledge the Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW and other emergency services, volunteers, and all those citizens who selflessly assisted their neighbours and their local community during the horrific fire season. To show its appreciation, Camden Council wrapped one of its waste trucks with images of local firefighters to thank them for their service. This waste truck was included in the Australia Day street parade. Further, as thanks for their efforts, Camden Council also had NSW RFS leading the street parade down Argyle Street; had donations collected at the NSW RFS stand; hosted Camden RSL Club's sausage sizzle at the conclusion of the street parade, where all the money collected was donated to the NSW RFS; and there was a standing ovation at the citizenship ceremony. On behalf of the Camden, Wollondilly and Liverpool communities, I thank them.

In Camden the events on the day started with a thanksgiving service at the Camden Civic Centre, hosted by the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary from Theresa Park. I thank them for their contribution to the day. The thanksgiving service was followed by the Macarthur Lions street parade, where some of the local RFS brigades, the Camden mayor, the Camden Australia Day ambassador, other special guests, and community groups paraded down Argyle Street in front of thousands of Camden residents, who lined the street cheering and waving Australian flags.

After the street parade Camden Council conducted the Australia Day Civic Ceremony held at the Camden Civic Centre. This ceremony recognises our local citizens who have contributed to making Camden so great, and welcomes new citizens to our country and our community. The winners for the award categories were: Citizen of the Year, Brett Atkins; Young Citizen of the Year, Rebecca Halcomb; Arts and Cultural Award, Gaylene Feld; and Sports Achievement Award, Lily Hreszczuk. The award for Community Group of the Year was shared by local service club Macarthur Lions Club and community group Turning Point.

After the awards ceremony, 50 members from 16 different nations of our growing community officially became Australian citizens. It is always a privilege to see residents pledge their commitment to our great country and it is even more special on a day like Australia Day. I thank Camden's Australia Day ambassador, Josephine Peter. Josephine has been volunteering for more than seven decades. Her volunteering work began in 1940 when she was just seven years old and knitted her first pair of socks for Australia's troops in World War II. By the end of the war Josephine had knitted 450 pairs of socks. Following the Australia Day Civic Ceremony, Camden put on its annual street party, which was a huge success. Thousands of people enjoyed the fun activities and entertainment throughout the day, which included a thong-throwing competition, face painting, eating competitions, a cork-hat-making workshop, a koala cupcake decorating station, an Australian animal face mask decorating station, jumping castles and entertainment and live music.

I take this opportunity to again acknowledge former Camden Woman of the Year and Convenor of the Camden-Wollondilly Domestic Violence Network, Tanya Whitehouse. Tanya received an Order of Australia medal in this year's Australia Day Honours for service to the community through welfare initiatives. I also extend a big thank you to Camden Council and its staff, whose efforts made Camden's 2020 Australia Day as great as it was. Finally, I thank the residents of the Camden community who turned out in droves to again acknowledge members of our community and to welcome new citizens into our community.

Mr CLAYTON BARR (Cessnock) (12:13):

:48 I make a very brief contribution to this worthy motion. While recognising the good member and his local area, of course I would prefer to speak about the constituency of the area that I have the great privilege to represent, the Cessnock electorate. The Cessnock electorate spans three different local government areas. We take in a little bit of the corner of Singleton and the western edge of Lake Macquarie, but primarily the Cessnock local government area is a part of the Cessnock electorate. The 2020 Australia Day awards is a significant event in the Cessnock calendar not only because it recognises the wonderful citizens that we have in our community but also because it is the T20 final of the local mayor—a game that this year was washed out and, controversially, was decided by an obscure rule within the Cessnock District Cricket Association, challenged by all and sundry. Nevertheless, the rain on the day was welcome.

The Citizen of the Year for 2020 is Melissa Gontier. During the course of last year she and a number of other people recognised a need to provide food for the homeless and for struggling families in the Cessnock electorate. They started with something as simple as a soup kitchen in the TAFE grounds one or two nights a week. That grew to three or four nights and ultimately they ended up in a shopfront with myriad donations of food, clothing and blankets coming from our local community, providing things that homeless people and people less well-off might need. Ultimately, Melissa and her team became the regular point for food and nourishment for a significant number of people in my electorate who are struggling with homelessness, are couch surfing or who may even be the working poor, as we see increasingly in our communities. The organisation now offers a service for people to have a hearty, cooked meal five out of seven nights a week and they can even take food away with them for their breakfast and lunch the following day. People can even get a change of clothes.

The group has recently moved into the old professional coaches premises at Cessnock tennis courts, which now means they can also offer their customers, their friends, their clients—call them what you will—somewhere to shower and to wash clothes if they need to and somewhere to get themselves into whatever state of hygiene and cleanliness they desire. It is incredible work being done by a grassroots organisation. They have no government funding or support; they started with literally nothing and they have grown from there with the generosity of the community.

Our Senior Citizen of the Year is Teddy Jackson. Teddy Jackson has been managing and facilitating aged care facilities across the Cessnock local government area for three or four decades—it feels like it has been for my entire life. He continues to do that even though he now could well be one of the clients. But he is incredibly healthy, incredibly intelligent and runs an incredibly good not-for-profit organisation, which continues to provide wonderful aged-care facilities for the people of Cessnock. Teddy Jackson could have won the Senior Citizen of the Year award any time over the past 20 or 30 years. His award is well deserved.

The Young Citizen of the Year is Chelsea Webb. Chelsea will be in this place as our Cessnock representative at the YMCA Youth Parliament in the coming months. She is an incredibly dynamic and energetic young woman. She attends Mount View High School and she does a lot of work in the community around anti‑bullying, leadership and general community service. She is a wonderful young lady and I am very, very proud that she will be coming into this Chamber in the coming months as a young person to sit on the green leather. I certainly hope that at some time in the future she considers a political career because she would be a wonderful representative of the Cessnock community in the years and decades ahead.

Finally—although there were many other award winners on the day—the Community Event of the Year award went to the Lost Diggers of Weston and Field of Honour. A local community group decided that they would try to identify in the local cemetery at Kurri Kurri every grave of a former service man or woman and that they would put a poppy beside that grave over the course of the Anzac Day weekend. It was incredible to see the thousands of people who went to see that most magnificent display. Each grave had placed on it not only a poppy but also an Australian flag. All of that work was done by volunteers. It was a genuine and unique celebration of our returned service people who, fortunately, did not die in the fields of war and came back but ultimately died many decades later. They lay to rest now in the Kurri Kurri Cemetery and they were recognised on this special occasion by these wonderful community people. I commend the motion from the good member. We can talk about Australia Day awards on any given day in this Chamber. It has been a great privilege to talk about the wonderful award winners of Cessnock.

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy) (12:19):

:53 I join with my colleagues in acknowledging the successful Australia Day events held this year. Australia Day in my electorate is always a busy and exciting time. We have a number of events and celebrations in honour of the day that give the community a chance to come together and join in the fun. One of my favourite events is starting the day with the Sandy Point community. They put on a huge breakfast that is always delicious. It is always a nice chance to catch up with everybody at Sandy Point as well. A number of official celebrations are also put on by Liverpool City Council and Sutherland Shire Council. Sutherland council decided this year not to have fireworks at their Menai event, which I thought was a wise decision in light of the bushfires. They went ahead with the Cronulla fireworks as they were over the ocean. It was a spectacular opportunity to see fireworks in the area.

The Australia Day awards and citizenship ceremony held at Casula Powerhouse is always a moving event. That is because we get to welcome and congratulate new citizens into the local community and we award and acknowledge local individuals and groups who have made a remarkable contribution to our community. It is always a nice time. Liverpool City Council also hosted an Australia Day event full of activities at Woodward Park in the evening. I did miss them but I hear the band Hari Kari was a highlight of the night. The event also collected donations for the NSW Rural Fire Service in support of their continued efforts in this horrific bushfire season. Later in the afternoon, my electorate also hosted the Premier's Western Sydney community reception. We were very lucky that Premier Berejiklian came and celebrated Australia Day at Casula Powerhouse. It was wonderful to have her there again with some of my western Sydney colleagues. The event showcased the hard work that the Premier and our Government have been doing for western Sydney. It was also a chance to bring together volunteers, community members and leaders from across western Sydney, such as my local RFS brigade captains, to thank them for all the great work they do throughout the year.

As the member for Camden put in his notice of motion, I too congratulate St Paul's Catholic Parish Primary School and all our schools for their amazing fundraising efforts for our hardworking firefighters. Money is not the only thing that our students have been providing. I recognise one of my local schools, Dalmeny Public School and their efforts supporting the Casula RFS volunteers. Their year 1 class—and I love thinking of the little year 1 kids doing this—sat down and wrote letters to thank the firefighters for their efforts. There were some lovely messages of gratitude which obviously would have boosted the morale of the Casula RFS. It is a lovely habit for the year 1 students to learn now and to take with them into their future and a lovely thing for the RFS volunteers to receive as well.

It is important to acknowledge Australia Day as an important day for our communities across the State, as we come together and celebrate our nation. It is events and celebrations held in my electorate and all across New South Wales that encourage inclusion and participation. It gets us up and active, and it gets us feeling proud to be Australian. That is especially essential for our State in its effort to heal after the recent bushfires. It was a special day and I thank everybody involved for their time and effort in organising. They obviously give up a lot of their time to organise events across the Christmas period when the rest of us are all relaxing. I thank them for putting those events on.

Mr NATHANIEL SMITH (Wollondilly) (12:23):

:56 I support the notice of motion moved by the member for Camden and my next door neighbour Peter Sidgreaves. Australia Day is proudly celebrated across my electorate with many events and celebrations, both formal and informal. On 26 January 2020 in the shire of Wollondilly I was proud to attend a ceremony in the Picton Botanic Gardens where over 5,000 people were in attendance. Like all my constituents, I am a very proud Australian and always look forward to the celebration of our national day on 26 January. Of particular significance was a special tribute to the RFS that was held at the commencement of the ceremony. A large wreath was presented to the Picton RFS captain on behalf of the community to recognise the two RFS volunteers, Andrew and Geoff from Horsley Park RFS, who died fighting the Green Wattle Creek fire in Buxton. This was a moving experience for me and it demonstrated the sense of community that has been evident all through the bushfire crisis.

Where the White Waratahs Grow

Local charities and community organisations provided a range of stalls, while the Rotary Clubs of Picton and Wollondilly North made bacon and egg rolls and held a sausage sizzle. As the crowd arrived they could hear a performance from local choral group, Picton Harmony and an Aboriginal calling. A rousing tribute to the RFS was given by the Highlands Pipes and Drums. Council CEO Ben Taylor officially welcomed all to the event, which commenced with the raising of the Australian, Aboriginal and Wollondilly flags and the singing of the national anthem by Taylor Smetanin of Wollondilly Anglican College. The Wollondilly poem was read by John Churchill and we heard another performance by Picton Harmony singing a joyous rendition of . A wonderful Welcome to Country was given by Aunty Glenda Chalker, a Dharawal Aboriginal Elder, followed by an excellent welcome from the Mayor of Wollondilly. His leadership since late 2018 has been magnificent and the council has operated in fine form working with State and Federal governments, which has not always been the relationship in the past.

The Australia Day prayer was read by Nash Moody, the school captain of St Anthony's Catholic Parish Primary School at Picton. The Wollondilly Australia Day ambassador Lindy Hou, OAM, gave an address on the significance of the day and asked all to feel proud that they live in such a wonderful country, where the feeling of community is such a great aspect of our lifestyle. This was followed by a citizenship ceremony where 21 residents of the shire were welcomed by Wollondilly Mayor Councillor Matthew Deeth as Australian citizens. The Australia Day awards then followed and 26 residents were nominated for the local Australia Day awards. Barbara Jolley was named Wollondilly's Citizen of the Year in recognition of her outstanding service to the Silverdale Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade and the community of Silverdale and Warragamba. This was particularly significant given the events of the previous couple of months.

Young Citizen of the Year, Mali Dillon, is a member of the Youth Parliament and has been pushing a lot of policy direction in drought. It is great to see some of our young people focusing on regional areas. Achiever of the Year was awarded to Jay Seene. Sportsperson of the Year was awarded to Shane Taylor. Local Hero/Community Group of the Year was awarded to Ron Bolton and Environmental Citizen of the Year was awarded to the Buxton Community Garden. After the official program, the entertainment continued with local groups Monkey's Uncle, Picton Harmony and the free family day included a giant water slide, Thomas the Tank Engine rides, reptile displays, interactive sports, giant garden games and much more. All in all it was a great day given all that the Wollondilly shire has experienced in the past few months. I was proud to be part of those celebrations.

Mr ADAM CROUCH (Terrigal) (12:28):I thank the member for Camden for bringing this excellent motion before the House. This Australia Day has been an opportunity for our Central Coast community to say thank you to our amazing emergency services. In the lead-up to Australia Day this year, I had the opportunity to join my Federal colleague Lucy Wicks, the member for Robertson, at a street stall near Terrigal Beach. Lucy created a fantastic initiative, a message book where local residents were able to write a message of thanks and appreciation to our truly wonderful Rural Fire Service volunteers. While most of our suburbs on the Central Coast were not directly impacted by fire, we can tell from the messages received that everyone in our community feels personally invested in the fire effort. I take this opportunity to say thank you again to our local heroes. It is extraordinary that so many people are willing to put their lives on the line by running towards danger while everyone else is running in the opposite direction.

:05

It is thanks to their efforts that people, property and wildlife were able to be protected. As I have said in this Chamber before, the Australian Reptile Park made outstanding efforts to keep its amazing and unique wildlife safe. Australia Day also provides us with the opportunity to honour those who have served others. Each year a number of Central Coast residents are honoured by receiving an Order of Australia and I take this opportunity to recognise each of them. Chris Cox was recognised for service to the performing arts and community through the Youth In Performing Arts initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for young people on the Central Coast to develop their music, dance and performance skills. The Central Coast has a plethora of young artistic talent that we see regularly at many community events.

David Booth was recognised for service to the community through his father's family business, Booths Motor Group. This fantastic family company has been operating on the Central Coast for decades and puts huge amounts of financial support back into community organisations, local sports clubs and others. Kerrie Dougherty was honoured for service to astronautics through her work as a space historian. I also acknowledge Dennis Gee for his service to surf lifesaving, having been involved with Surf Life Saving Central Coast for the past 70 years. That is an incredible contribution to the outstanding surf lifesaving organisation, especially on the Central Coast. We know what a wonderful job our lifesavers do keeping both visitors and locals safe on our beaches—we have had no drowning deaths on a patrolled beach for the past four seasons. Andrew Hoban was also recognised for service to surf life saving, having been a member of surf clubs for the past 60 years.

John Wareham was honoured for service to aged welfare and the community for his involvement in Gosford Men's Barbershop Chorus, the World Harmony Council and the Australian Association of Men Barbershop Singers. Christopher Beatson received a Public Service Medal for outstanding service to the NSW Police Force. Finally, Brett Davies, who is a constituent of mine, received the Australian Fire Service Medal for his long and ongoing career with Fire and Rescue NSW. As I have said before, Australia Day should be a proud and patriotic occasion for all Australians. This is certainly the case for the Central Coast community. I again thank the member for Camden for bringing this excellent motion before the House and for giving us the chance to recognise the many outstanding Australians whom we acknowledge on Australia Day. It is a wonderful occasion on the Central Coast, with many celebrations of Australian patriotism.

Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore) (12:32):

:07 I speak to the motion moved by the member for Camden and I thank him for raising it today. All members in this House appreciate the importance of Australia Day. It is a day we can all take immense pride in. Together, we create a diverse, vibrant country comprising so many varying cultures and backgrounds, making Australia the most successful multicultural society in the world. Since citizenship ceremonies started in Australia more than 70 years ago, millions of people have pledged their loyalty to this country. This year thousands more joined their ranks. Australian citizenship represents commitment to Australia and its people, the values we share and our common future. This Australia Day I had the privilege of attending two local citizenship ceremonies in my area—one at North Sydney Council and the other at Admiralty House with the Governor General.

I thank Councillor Roy Bendall of Mosman Council for representing me at the Mosman citizenship ceremony, which I must attend in alternate years as it clashes with the North Sydney event. However, I acknowledge the recipients of the Mosman Council's citizen awards. Mosman Council's 2020 Citizen of the Year award was presented jointly to Ivan and Beth Hodge, who are well known and loved Mosman locals in my electorate of North Shore. Since 2004 Ivan and Beth have been hosting a free event at the Balmoral rotunda in celebration of their anniversary. All Mosman residents are invited to join in the celebrations, complete with a fire truck display and performances by the NSW Fire and Rescue  Band and marching bands. I congratulate them on their award and thank them for their contribution to our community.

Elliot Connor was awarded the Mosman Council Young Citizen of the Year award. Elliott is the founder and CEO of Human Nature Projects, an international NGO. He is also active across two dozen conservation charities. Elliott regularly runs activities for the 1st Mosman Scout Group and also volunteers with WIRES, rescuing injured wildlife. I congratulate Elliott and thank him for showing the power that people have to change our planet and preserve our environment.

At the North Sydney Council citizenship ceremony we welcomed 60 new Australian citizens from 21 different countries. With over 21 nationalities represented, one way of expressing this diversity was for everyone to shout "Good morning" in their native language. It was a lovely way to hear the range of accents there on the day. As well as presenting the new citizens with their certificates, it was also a time to present the Australia Day community awards for the North Sydney Council area. Our Citizen of the Year award was presented to the senior pastor of Church by the Bridge, Reverend Paul Dale, who has been serving this church and the North Sydney community for 17 years. When Paul took up responsibility of Church by the Bridge in Kirribilli there were no more than 30 congregation members. Today, the church has more than 700 adult members and 200 children. In recent years he has also taken over responsibility as Reverend of St Augustine's Anglican Church in Neutral Bay, which is my local church where both my husband and I and my grandparents were married.

The North Sydney Young Citizen of the Year award was presented to 17‑year-old Zoe Moore, who was nominated by Phoenix House youth services for the positive impact that she has had on her peers through promoting and strengthening peer connection with students in the Phoenix House study support service. I have spoken before in this place about the contribution that Phoenix House makes to young people in the community. I thank Zoe for giving back to them, and I also congratulate Jethro on joining us. The North Sydney Community Group of the Year award was presented to the Coal Loader Community Tour Guides Group, which has five volunteers who run tours of the sustainability centre every week. The North Sydney Environmental Citizens of the Year award was presented to the Coal Loader Aquaponic Volunteer Group.

I thank the staff of North Sydney Council for organising such a wonderful event. I also thank the band, whose members include Belinda Adams, Dave Armstrong and Steve Cummins, and all the new citizens who attended on the day. I wish them the best of luck. Later in the day I joined His Excellency the Governor General at Admiralty House in Kirribilli. I thank him and Mrs Linda Hurley for their moving citizenship ceremony. I congratulate all the citizenship winners; I know they will continue to be an integral part of our local community. Once more, I welcome all our new citizens.

Mr DUGALD SAUNDERS (Dubbo) (12:36):

:22 By leave: I thank the member for Camden for bringing forward this motion. I pay tribute to the outstanding achievers who were recognised for their contributions to their local communities as part of the Australia Day festivities in my electorate just a month ago. It is most important that we continue to hold these community‑based events on occasions that bring us together as we continue to face what has felt like a never‑ending drought. Despite a bit of recent rain, the issue of drought support for communities and businesses continues to be at the front of my mind. Events such as Australia Day are really important in regional areas, where councils are often asked to bring together different communities that are often separated by quite large distances in order to forge a shared identity.

That certainly happened in my region. For example, Narromine shire has a population of about 6½ thousand people and the council held two Australia Day events: one in Narromine and another in the smaller town of Trangie. Australia Day awards were presented in both towns, recognising the contributions that residents have made to their local community. I was lucky enough to attend and speak at the Narromine celebrations at Dundas Park. What a day that was. It was fantastic to meet the community award winners. One thing I highlight is the watermelon-eating contest, which is always the highlight. I foolishly took on the reigning world champion, Anthony "Evvo" Everett, who completely demolished me. In this competition it is not a wedge of watermelon; it is a circle of watermelon that you have to eat with your face and try not to split it, which is quite a feat. I failed miserably. Evvo is the reigning world champion and he easily took the champion title again this year. Well done, Evvo.

The common thread running through Australia Day is coming together as a community. No‑one highlighted that more than Dubbo's Australia Day ambassador, Peter Gibbs. Peter is a Gamilaroi man and Dubbo resident who established the Indigenous Police Recruitment Our Way Delivery Program [IPROWD]. IPROWD supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to join the NSW Police Force or other justice, emergency and government agencies. In his speech Peter acknowledged that many conversations happen about Australia Day and about maybe changing the date. He urged people to look at Australia from the perspective of a new immigrant choosing to call Australia home. He said, "No country or community is perfect, but we are all very lucky to live in Australia and what we have achieved in this country is definitely worth celebrating." The meaning of Peter's words was evident on the faces of those who became Australian citizens this year. I have attended many citizenship ceremonies over the years and the one thing they all have in common is the sheer joy on people's faces when they take the oath, receive their certificate and are welcomed as an Australian.

Well done to Dubbo's Citizen of the Year Megan Hamblin, who has a lot of involvement with St John Ambulance. Mid-Western's Citizen of the Year Award was presented to Jan Pirie, a retired registered nurse. Narromine's Citizen of the Year was awarded to Jan Colmer, who moved there 28 years ago and has been heavily involved in the community. Wellington Senior Citizen of the year was Aunty Joyce Williams, a Wiradjuri Elder who has been part of the community in many different ways and still offers welcome to country. I ran into Aunty Joyce just recently; she is an absolute gem. The Trangie Citizen of the year went to the principal of Trangie Central School, Anne Holden, for her continued service to education and the wider community.

There were young citizens of the year award recipients, including Molly Croft, and sporting achievements awards to a range of people, including young Lilly Clarke, whom I have mentioned in this place before. Other awards went to community groups that do a lot around our region and should be recognised. There is no doubt that Australia Day events continue to help bring people together, remind us of our community spirit and provide an opportunity for us all to reconnect with friends and neighbours. I congratulate everyone who was nominated or awarded at this year's Australia Day events and look forward to next year's celebrations.

Mr PETER SIDGREAVES (Camden) (12:41):

:08 In reply: I thank members representing the electorates of Cessnock, Holsworthy, Wollondilly, Terrigal, North Sydney and Dubbo for their contributions to debate on this motion. Australia Day is an important day for people of the electorate of Camden and, indeed, for most Australians. I commend the motion to the House.

TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr Lee Evans):

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.