Morialta Electorate

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:39): It is my great privilege to represent the people of Morialta in this house. I have done it now for nearly 12 years, and it is an extraordinary pleasure to engage with some of the most profoundly strong leaders in our community on a regular basis, through all sorts of voluntary associations.

One of the groups of which I am very privileged to be a former member and now an honorary member, along with the member for Hartley, is the Campbelltown Rotary Club. I would like to congratulate the Campbelltown Rotary Club and its president, Stephany Martin, particularly on the work they are doing, which was highlighted in the last couple of week, that is, bringing on the next generation of community leaders as the host club for this year's Rotary Youth Leadership (RYLA) awards.

A couple of weeks ago, the host club, led by its President, Stephany Martin, who is also a RYLA alumna, hosted a wonderful dinner to celebrate those awards, which I was very privileged to be able to speak at. I would like to congratulate the chair of the Rotary District 9510 Youth Leadership Awards, Helen Marshall, and the District Governor, Jeff Neale, who is a great South Australian and who gives so much to the community all the time, and this year he has taken on that special role. I congratulate the Project Manager and the District Youth Service chair, Damian Leach; the Leadership Manager, Jenna Casey; and the Operations Manager, Caitlin Marshall.

There are many roles throughout the week of the RYLA awards as these young people are given the opportunity to be advanced in their understanding of leadership and, indeed, its intimate connection with service, as it has. Some of those more hands-on roles fall to the mentors, and I would like to congratulate those mentors: Kevin Read, Alison Michael, James Watson, Zahra Bayani, Lucy Stevens and Kaz Bahmanzadah.

Host parents through the week's camp were Jim and Margaret Beare, and the registrar, Margaret Northcote, who has done so many things for young people through her career as a teacher and as the first female club president of the Campbelltown Rotary Club a number of years ago. She makes an enormous contribution to the community across not just Campbelltown but the whole of South Australia. Also, as a near neighbour, I can advise the house that she is always willing to share a cup of tea, for which I am tremendously grateful.

Also at that dinner were a significant number of people from around the community who had contributed to the support and development of those fine young South Australians. As I said to the group of RYLA awardees that night, I cannot wait to see what these guys achieve in the years ahead, and I commend everyone from the Rotary organisation who has helped them on that journey.

In the time that I have available today, I also want to commend another community organisation which a couple of weeks ago, at the end of September, celebrated the 66^th anniversary of the Maria Santissima di Montevergine festa. I was pleased to be joined by the Premier, as always; the member for Sturt, James Stevens; and the member for Hartley, Vincent Tarzia, who as always contributes to the event. There was, of course, a visit in the evening by the Leader of the Opposition. I commend him for that, and I thank the other Labor representative who came along to the mass in the morning.

It is an extraordinary event. This year it was wonderful to be back having the festa, not just the mass in the marquee but also festa celebrations throughout the day. It was an extraordinary effort. I believe they had in excess of three dozen COVID marshals to ensure that social distancing and the appropriate COVID-safe plan was put into effect. That was an enormous body of work.

Last year, it had to be only a mass, but for 64 years before that it had been a wonderful festa celebration, and it was wonderful to get back to that. I commend, as always, president, Domenico Zollo; vice-president, Fedele Catalano; and the rest of the committee: secretary, Maria Trajkovic; Nicola Zollo; Ursula Ricci; Michele Piteo; Phillip Izzo; Donato D'Ettorre; Ennio Cavaiuolo; Donato D'Ettorre; Michael Razzano; Anna Catalano; Carmela Placentino; Carmine Scalzi; Orazio Tedesco; and Mario Mignone.

All those people on the committee of the Montevergine festa have done a wonderful job, and it was extraordinary that evening to be able to share in the celebration of all those present. I have my own recollections of making the pilgrimage to the sanctuary at the top of the mountain and being able to remember that extraordinary vista, which I know my own children one day will be able to visit in memory of their heritage, their grandparents and great-grandparents through their mother's side.

We appreciate the opportunity provided by the festa committee to continue that memory of Montevergine and continue its celebration, which will happen for generations to come.

Time expired.