Morialta Community Awards

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:12): I thank the Minister for Arts for the comments she made about Roz Hervey just then. Roz Hervey was a really significant contributor to South Australia's arts scene, not just to the arts scene but to the life of many South Australians. I recall when I was the Minister for Education the engagement through Patch Theatre, through Roz's husband, Geoff, obviously, and also having the opportunity to meet and speak with Roz on a couple of occasions. I was struck, not just with her significant artistic capability and the extraordinary career that she had and what she was able to contribute to and produce but also her perspective on the impact of the arts on young people in particular, which obviously through Patch—for which I used to have responsibility—had an incredible impact on many young lives, whether they were to become artists or whether their lives were just going to be enhanced by arts.

The thing that struck me, as the Minister for Arts was speaking and obviously when I saw the news that Roz had left us a few days ago, was her extraordinary kindness. She was just lovely, so incredibly friendly. She struck me as an extraordinarily lovely person, with a big impact on South Australia. I endorse everything the Minister for Arts said and add my and the opposition's condolences to Geoff and, of course, to Tilda and Huey.

One of the things I really enjoy in my job as the member for Morialta is being able to honour and celebrate and tell people about the work of great volunteers, great contributors, in our local community. One of the ways in which I have done that over the last couple of years has been through the Morialta Community Award. Every month, we receive nominations for people who make a difference in our community.

The people who live in Morialta and who are fortunate enough to spend time in Morialta and work in Morialta know that it is the best part of the best state on earth to live. We are blessed with extraordinary natural beauty, and the environmental surroundings in the Morialta electorate are the best. There is no question of that; that is objective fact. We are also blessed with significant opportunities to have great schools and great businesses to appreciate, but our community is not just made up of the natural environment or buildings and bricks and mortar, it is the people who make it so. Celebrating those people every month is a real pleasure.

Last night, I was really privileged to be able to welcome Morialta Community Award winners for 2024 into Parliament House for what is becoming an annual dinner, where we were able to introduce them. Some of them had met one another on many occasions, as people who are engaged in the community are often wont to do, and some of them met for the first time. For the parliamentary record, I want to acknowledge their contribution to our community.

The winner for January this year was Sabapathy Kanagasabai, better known as Babu, former president of the Campbelltown Rotary Club and former president of the Adelaide Tamil Association, both significant contributions to our local community and our state of South Australia. February's winner was Paul Haylock of the Morialta Rotary Club, nominated in particular for the new event on Australia Day that a lot of people come to—nearly a thousand last year—the Thorndon Park Duck Race, raising money for Rotary charities. The winner in March was Raelene Churchett, nominated by staff at the Athelstone Preschool in acknowledgement of two decades of voluntary service supporting our littlest learners in Athelstone.

April's winner was Vickie Gagliardi, president of the Athelstone Kindergym. Kindergyms play a tremendously important and valuable role in the development of young children and are great for young families. It is hard to get volunteers there, of course, because the parents involved tend to be in for a year or two and then out again. Vickie has been consistent in her support and as president has helped them find new facilities now at St Francis of Assisi School, and I thank the school for doing that. May's winner was Fred Hamood of the Rezz Hotel who, along with his brother and sister, has done an extraordinary job in creating that as a community asset, and they contribute significantly to the community. June's winner was Shirley Schubert, for many years a chair of the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Magill and, indeed, a teacher in our area.

July's joint winners were Joy and Bruce Stewart, nominated by people at the Athelstone Uniting Church for their work on the community garden and playgroup. August's winner was Lisa Innis, celebrating 30 years this year as the director of Innis Dance Studios. Generations of young children have learned confidence and dance through there. Don Leombruno from the Campbelltown City Soccer Club was September's winner. Phillip Izzo, the next generation of leadership from the Maria Santissima di Montevergine Festa, was October's winner. Our November winner was Garry Wedding, nominated by the staff at Magill Kindergarten for a decade's service in ensuring any job that they needed done was done. I thank all the winners for their service and commend them to the house.