Murraylands Award Winners

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:35): I rise to speak about some Murraylands award winners today. The Murraylands have been extremely successful at two major awards events hosted here in Adelaide in the last couple of months, and I am honoured to represent those award winners as their local state member.

On 24 August, I had the pleasure of attending the 2017 Adult Learners Week Awards in support of award finalists for the categories of Adult Educator/Mentor of the Year and Adult Learning Program of the Year. The Adult Learning Program of the Year was awarded to the Murraylands Food Alliance Jobs 4 Murraylands program, a Murraylands-based program facilitated by Christine Willersdorf in collaboration with Regional Development Australia, Murraylands and the Riverland. MFA Jobs 4 Murraylands addresses the needs of local industries and connects participants with employment opportunities whilst also supporting them to increase confidence, self-esteem and motivation. This program has been a great success, delivering results for its participants and to the region, and I look forward to learning of its future achievements.

The Adult Educator/Mentor of the Year was also awarded to a Murraylands resident, and that was Christine Willersdorf. Her dedication to the industry of training and facilitating was recognised at the Adult Learners Week Awards when she was awarded the 2017 Adult Educator/Mentor of the Year. Christine believes in all those who participate in her programs, but what she teaches them is crucial to their success, and that is to believe in themselves. These awards recognise the work done to get the long-term unemployed into employment, and they are having an 85 per cent success rate.

These two award winners, along with several other Murraylands constituents, were also finalists at the 2017 SA Training Awards held on 1 September, which I again attended to show my support. I was overwhelmingly impressed with the success of the Murraylands region at the SA Training Awards, with all for local nominees becoming winners in their categories and winning four of the 11 awards on offer.

The Murraylands Food Alliance Jobs 4 Murraylands program again showed its success, after winning the Industry Collaboration Award. This award recognises outstanding collaboration with at least one employer or industry body. The Murraylands Food Alliance Jobs 4 Murraylands program is a well-deserving recipient, after successfully collaborating with over 50 industry stakeholders or employers.

In the Traineeship of the Year category, Ms Sandy Beaton of the Rural City of Murray Bridge council was nominated for progressing her knowledge in business and administration through her traineeship whilst demonstrating exceptional organisational and communication skills. Sandy's hard work and determination throughout her traineeship was recognised when she became the 2017 South Australian Trainee of the Year.

The success did not stop there for the region. The School-Based Apprentice of the Year was also awarded to a Murraylands-based recipient, Max Miegel. Max's passion for agriculture is evident through his commitment to the industry, in this case to the dairy industry working with the Mueller family at Murray Bridge. It is inspiring to see Max's dedication to an industry that is a vital part of our state and country. Max was successful on another occasion at the awards, after being awarded the People's Choice award. This accolade is based on an online vote for the public's favourite individual South Australian training awards finalist.

Both these evenings were filled with excitement and celebration for our region, and the recipients of the South Australian Training Awards should be extremely proud. I look forward to hearing of their future successes within their selected industry fields. I note that if they go through the process—and it is not just automatic selection into the national finals in Canberra; there is a bureaucratic process to go through—I wish them all the best and all the luck in those national awards coming up in Canberra later on in the year.