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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-22 Daily Xml
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AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:24): Last night, with the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (the member for Bragg), I had the privilege of attending the Australian of the Year Awards, South Australian chapter. I notice that a very quiet achiever in this house, the member for Norwood, is on the committee. I take time to commend her for her work with something that I was not aware of, and I think there is probably a number of activities that members of this house contribute to that we are not aware of. So, congratulations to the member for Norwood on being involved in this program.

I did have some cynicism in the past, not so much recently, about the worth of some of the award programs. Like many members in this house, on many occasions we have the honour of attending award ceremonies, but sometimes we wonder about their worth.

I am pleased to say that this particular program is obviously worthwhile. The calibre of the people nominated is extremely pleasing. In the local hero category, South Australian finalists included Samantha Krollig, a rural community builder; Ted Pawelski, a community worker; Nouha Jaber, an Arabic community worker; and also someone who is very well-known to many of us in this house, Jim Douglas, a coastal community activist. I was very pleased to see that Jim—whom I know best out of these four local hero nominations—has been recognised for the fantastic work that he has been doing over a number of years, particularly for those of us in the Henley Beach area.

The member for Schubert would know of the work of this group; in fact, the member for Schubert is an activist himself, as am I and a number of others in the western suburbs, and certainly those who live on the coastal area. It was interesting to note that Samantha Krollig was actually identified as the local hero for 2008. That really identified the work that she has done as a regional person to try to make sure there is support, particularly for young parents in her area.

The South Australian finalists for the Young Australian of the Year included Anna McInerney, 16, an amazing fund-raiser; Erin Riddell, 21, a social activist who is particularly involved in the Australian Youth Climate Change Coalition as well as Oxfam and World Vision; and Victoria Saint, 23, a health advocate who has been involved in the United Nations Development Fund, the People's Health Movement and a number of other organisations within South Australia.

We were treated by the fourth South Australian finalist in the Young Australian of the Year category, Niki Vasilakis, 25, a musician. It is interesting to note that Niki took up the violin at the age of four because her parents suspected that she had ADHD. So, she used her daily practice to temper her over-energetic behaviour. I thought that was a very interesting aspect to this now internationally famous musician.

There were four nominees in the Senior Australian of the Year category: Margaret Flower, development pioneer; Rodney Fox, a shark expert who had suffered a violent attack by a shark and turned that dramatic experience into making sure that more information is available to study sharks, conservation and underwater work; Professor Rob Morrison, OAM, is a science communicator; and Joy Tatnell, a refugee supporter—amongst other things—for Red Cross and Lifeline.

In the Australian of the Year category, South Australian finalists included Michael Angelakis; Dr Paul Downton; Scott Hicks; and Brenton Whittaker. It was very pleasing to hear that Scott Hicks has been identified as the South Australian of the Year.

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