Morialta Citizenship Awards

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:40): Every year, I have great pleasure in awarding a series of citizenship awards to students within my Morialta electorate who do great work in their school and in their community. After being elected member for Morialta in 2010, I invited all my schools—I think in the following year—to participate in this award. It consists of a book voucher or, for the schools that are not near a bookshop, a cheque; a certificate, and the record of their achievements. I give a speech annually in this chamber to record their achievements.

For the record, I want to start by acknowledging all those students who do great work in the Morialta community and of course across South Australia every day. I particularly acknowledge those who are chosen by their schools for their service. Putting others in front of themselves is a citizenship trademark that we definitely want to encourage all our young people to aspire to. Role modelling behaviour for others is worthy.

I am very appreciative of the opportunity to congratulate these winners, particularly those whose graduations I did not get to last year because, unfortunately, some of the schools had their graduations at the same time as each other. I give special congratulations to those I did not get to last year.

The Morialta Citizenship Award winners for 2018 from Athelstone School are Maryam Al Dabbas and Gary Jones. Both students voluntarily and consistently give their best in so many ways for the school community. They are described as competent, reliable and valued role models.

From Basket Range Primary School, the winner is Jai Taverna. Jai shows great empathy when working with others and is a positive role model for all students with excellent leadership skills. I can tell you he is an outstanding actor as well, having seen him in a couple of school plays.

Birdwood High School's winner is Alexandrina Seager, or Lexi, who has embraced the school values of creativity, opportunity and excellence with her involvement in and outside the school community. Her involvement with netball, Scouts, tennis and swimming, as well as her creativity, are laudable and noteworthy. At Birdwood Primary School, the Morialta Citizenship Award winner for 2018 is Claudia McCarthy, an outstanding student and a positive role model, as well as a school leader who does an enormous body of work to support all students in their endeavours. From the Domino Servite College, congratulations to Emily Trinkle, an exemplary student with service conduct worthy of recognition. She applied herself to her studies and attitude, serving the school community on a regular basis.

Mr BROWN: Point of order: I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The Gumeracha Primary School awarded two recipients, Mirella Mik and Riley Polmear, the Morialta Citizenship Award in 2018. Both students consistently show maturity and willingness to help others, are highly regarded by their peers and work hard with good standards. Highbury Primary School selected two recipients this year, Stephanie Furler and Ivan Erofeev. Stephanie has had leadership roles during the year and is an enthusiastic student. Both are excellent role models for other students. Ivan's participation in sports and music demonstrated his leadership skills.

Lenswood Primary School selected Jesse Maczkowiack. Jesse is a quiet and confident student who works well with peers and relates well to all in the school community. His helpfulness is a particular talent noted by his teachers. At Lobethal Lutheran School, Elise Rendo is the recipient. The behaviour of a responsible school citizen is identified as her defining characteristic. She is a responsible senior student who has been the voice of good conscience when needed. The Lobethal Primary School selected Corey Hogben and Cameron Tidd as their two citizenship award winners. Corey and Cameron are both known as hard workers inside and outside of the school through their involvement in sports and community activity.

The Norwood Morialta High School has a senior school and a middle school award. Marcello Morena, as school captain, is one of the achievers and a student who displays enthusiasm and diverse interests. I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of Marcello in the years ahead through his significant contribution to the school community and embodiment of the school's motto of enriching humanity. Sevanah Hadgidimitriou is the other achiever. A very community-minded student with extensive involvement in school life, she has demonstrated a mature and dedicated approach to school work and her leadership roles.

The Norton Summit Primary School selected Paige Atkinson as their Morialta Citizenship Award winner. She is a self-motivated student who demonstrates resilience and persistence in all she does and is an outstanding role model for all students with her positive mindset and responsible attitude. I congratulate Angus Honner, who is Rostrevor College's Morialta Citizenship Award winner 2018. He has held leadership roles, participated in cricket and football, has endeavoured to make the college a welcoming community for all and is leader of Webb House.

St Ignatius College selected Gemma Puntillo, an extraordinary young woman whose family has been touched by cancer. For this reason, Gemma cut her long, beautiful hair short in order to donate it to be made into wigs. It was a very personal and generous decision by Gemma and a sign of a worthy winner. There were four winners from Stradbroke Primary School: Rohan Harding, Mikayla Partik, Emily Sargent and Natisha Bruno. All four have demonstrated excellent leadership qualities above and beyond for their school communities and are positive role models.

Thorndon Park Primary School's nominee and winner of the Morialta Citizenship Award is Tara Hurst, a student who has demonstrated her school's vision and values through her contribution to the school as a whole. Finally, Uraidla Primary School's nominee is a young student called Luke Squiers. A responsible role model for all students, his energy and enthusiasm encourage others to be involved in all areas of school and community life. I particularly thank Luke for reaching out through Instagram to get a photo of the occasion. I commend these winners to the house.