Grievance Debate

Riverland and Mallee Vocational Awards

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:04): It gives me pleasure to talk about a celebration in the Riverland. The 2024 Riverland and Mallee Vocational Awards were held a week ago last Friday. The Rotary Club of Berri, the organisers and the presenters did an outstanding job, I must say. The awards are a celebration of achievement of mostly young people across the Riverland and Mallee, to recognise their success, their endeavour and their enthusiasm, acknowledging the vital contribution they make to our communities.

The awards are the largest of their kind in regional Australia, and the apprenticeships and traineeships continue to be the major form of vocational training in Australia. They are also a major employer in the electorate of Chaffey. It is vital that apprentices and trainees continue to come through because without them the workforce in our state and our country would suffer.

The opportunities for young people are sustainable employment skills, building, construction, electrical, engineering, automotive, hairdressing, cooking and baking, printing and graphics, and many more. Not only do apprenticeships and traineeships provide the next generation of skilled workers but in the lead-up to the presentation of the awards the room was clearly filled with aspiration—nervous energy, absolutely—and the member for Unley and myself know what that energy is because we are former apprentices in South Australia.

Some of the winners and runners-up and finalists within those awards were:

Michael Grosser—Apprentice of the Year, an Electrical Industry Award, LecLogix;

Maiya Rice—runner-up for Apprentice of the Year, Hairdressing Industry Award, Jarahs Hair;

Cameron Kuchel—Automotive Industry Award, Mitech Automotive;

Ollie Pearce, a great young river boy—Building and Construction Industry Award, GJ Gardner Homes;

Stefan Symeonakis—Cookery Industry Award, Renmark Club. For any of you who have not been to the Renmark Club, go there and try some of the cooking that we see Stefan punching out of that kitchen; it is truly inspirational;

Kaleb Ivanovic—Engineering Industry Award, MayFab Engineering; and

Dillon Vandergiessen—Painting and Decorating Industry Award, Bristles Painting and Decorating.

Some of the finalists were Morgan Edwards, Nicholas Stockman, Darcy Thiele, Tyson McFeeters, Riley Pontt, Haidar Qambari, and Sophie Wilson who rounded out the finalists for Apprentice of the Year.

The winner of the Trainee of the Year was Charlotte Zimmerman and Toby Johnson was the runner-up. Other finalists were Tahlia Hughes, Jessica Slade, Danielle Cox, Deegan Rothe, and Sakina Qambari. The VET Student of the Year was Zahlee Steele, an outstanding winner and contributor, not only in her workplace but as a volunteer and community member. Sophie Thompson was the runner-up, and Natalie Mackintosh was also in the placings.

The School-Based Trainee of the Year was Mia Depalma, Lachlan Marks was the runner-up, and Ellen Kroehn was an outstanding contributor all year. I have met Ellen on a number of occasions and she, too, is not only a great contributor but also a great community person. The School-Based Apprentice of the Year was Shamon Moroney, Saffron Rumbold was the runner-up, and Angelina Chliaris was a finalist.

I want to congratulate and thank the organising committee, and Bruce Richardson OAM, the club president. He has worked tirelessly over the past 16 years to make sure that these awards remain the premier presentation awards in the Riverland. There are also the judges. There was a raft of panels of judges who did an outstanding job. It was a really tough exercise.

I went along and sat in on some of those meetings and some of those I guess guiding committees to better understand the challenges and how close those finalists are in representing a great region, the Riverland. I thank the sponsors, all levels of sponsors, the media partners and, as I said, the judges who did an outstanding job, but, most importantly, the trainees, the apprentices and the employers who all do a great job.

I want to pay tribute to the parents who give them a driving force. We all know with young people that sometimes it is a little tough to push people out of the door every morning and make sure they turn up for work, but it gives them the drive and the skills to be better people and contribute to our community.