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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-16 Daily Xml
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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (15:14): I had the opportunity to attend a presentation to local schoolchildren by this year's National Australia Day award recipients at Northfield Primary School and Ross Smith Secondary School. I understand that they also went to some other schools around the metropolitan area. This was the first time since recipients were presented with their awards in Canberra on Australia Day that the four national award winners were all able to attend the same presentation.

The day began at Northfield Primary School, where this year's four Australia Day award winners were welcomed to the school with a Welcome to Country presented by students from the school. The award winners were: Australian of the Year, Professor Michael (Mick) Dodson; Young Australian of the Year, Jonty Bush; Graeme Drew, Australia's Local Hero, who was an exceptionally interesting character; and Pat LaManna, Senior Australian of the Year. The students were exceptionally impressed with these truly delightful people.

Professor Mick Dodson, the Australian of the Year, told the students of his humble background, of being been brought up in Katherine, moving in with relatives in Darwin after the death of his parents and then going off to boarding school in Hamilton, Victoria. He talked about how he went on to attend university, where he graduated in law. He practised law with the Aboriginal Legal Aid Service and then became a barrister, working with the Northern Land Council.

Mick told the children of his surprise at being nominated for Australian of the Year. He stressed to the students the importance of a good education and doing their best, particularly enjoying what they do, so his message was a very good one. One of the students asked him who his hero was, and he said that it was Nelson Mandela.

Jonty Bush, the Young Australian of the Year, told students that, when she was 21, her youngest sister was murdered and that, just five months later, her father was killed in an unprovoked attack. She explained that her experiences had motivated her to assist others who were dealing with grief by becoming a volunteer with the Queensland Homicide Victims Support Group, and this led her to become the CEO at the very young age of 27. She also campaigned to have homicide laws in Queensland amended, following the acquittal of her father's killer. Jonty explained to the students how she developed the successful One Punch Can Kill campaign, which was adopted by the Queensland government.

Graeme Drew, Australia's Local Hero, told the students that he was a professional fisherman who operated from the small town of Bremer Bay in Western Australia, where he helped to found the Bremer Bay SES and Sea Rescue. After his nephew's tragic death from falling into a dangerous rip and being carried out to sea, he moved to establish a trust in memory of his nephew. The trust built a system called the Silent Sentry, which is mounted along dangerous rocky coastal areas, and this system has already been instrumental in saving two lives in Western Australia, and I know that he visited a number of our sea rescue people to talk about using that device.

Pat LaManna, the Senior Australian of the Year, told the students of his background as a poor Italian migrant whose father first migrated to Australia in 1936 and of how he and his family moved here after World War II. He told of building his business and becoming the 'Banana King' of the Melbourne Markets. He had been a member of the Lions for 40 years and, in 1972, he helped to establish the Lions Club of Melbourne Markets, which is one of the highest fundraising Lions clubs in Australia.

The students were exceptionally pleased to hear from these wonderful people who shared their experiences and motivated the youth. Our secondary school students were perhaps not as vocal in asking questions as our primary school students, but the award winners inspired all the students with their selfless attitude to making our community a better place to live. We were exceptionally fortunate to have these people here in South Australia—a first, I understand.

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