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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-07 Daily Xml
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Light Electorate Award Recipients

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:25): Like the member for Chaffey, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Australia Day award winners in my electorate of Light. At the outset, I would also like to thank the service clubs of Gawler, the Apex Club and other service clubs, that put on the Australia Day breakfast in Apex Park with the support of the town of Gawler. I would like to put on record my congratulations to the people who decided to become Australian citizens on that day, which is an important thing as well.

I take the opportunity to congratulate the various award winners. When I go through the list of names and activities, you will see how the work of these people, these organisations and groups enrich the life of our community and make Gawler a better place to live.

The Citizen of the Year Award was shared between two people this year. The first award winner was Ann McGonigal. Ann has been involved with skating since the age of eight and she is now 83. She was a founder of the Gawler Skating Club and taught people how to skate, etc. For all that time she has been involved in that activity and is still teaching skate skills in Gawler.

In addition to that she has also volunteered with the Gawler Amateur Swim Club where she has taught young people to swim. She has been doing that for a long time. In fact, she is currently still coaching new swimmers and is almost always out there to lend a hand. She was awarded one of the two Citizen of the Year Awards.

The other Citizen of the Year Award went to Jayne Polito. Jayne has spent many years in sport, contributing to the Xavier Tennis Club. Her nomination was also for her work with the Gawler and District Tennis Association, where she has been a committee member for many years, doing a lot of social media and fundraising for the association as well. She and others have been involved in boosting participation in tennis in the district. Jayne also played, umpired and coached with the Willaston Netball Club over a period of 25 years. These two women have made a huge contribution to sports in our communities.

Young Citizen of the Year was awarded to Jade Hancock. Jade has been a member of the Gawler Youth Advisory Committee for six years and has spent the past two years as its chair. Jade has been involved in a range of groups across Gawler, including the Climate Emergency Action Plan working group. She is also a member of the Gawler town band, is assistant secretary and about to become secretary of that organisation, supporting music in our town.

Outside the town of Gawler, Jade was recently appointed undergraduate student representative at the University of South Australia City East Campus. She has also been nominated for the 7NEWS Community Award. Again, another young person making a huge contribution to our community.

The Corporate Citizen of the Year Award went to Damian McGee. Damian is the operator of the Exchange Hotel. Through his corporate role and as an employer he provides a lot of support for employment for young people in the community and also sponsors a plethora of sporting groups, including cricket, football, tennis, netball and gymnastics. His business also hosts a weekly fundraiser where $5 from each cheeseburger sold on a Tuesday night goes to local community groups and other sporting groups and charities around the town. Outside the Exchange, Damian is also president of the Gawler District Tennis Association, where he has worked hard to lift the profile of tennis in our community.

The community group of the year was Willo's Men's Shed. Willo's Men's Shed mainly serves men 50 years and over, particularly helping people who have transitioned out of work. It provides a good and important support network. They also do a great deal of work with young people, particularly young men who are neurodivergent. They are having great success working with young men, and I support that group.

The Community Event of the Year was the Gawler Christmas Parade. After a 40 year hiatus, the Christmas parade returned. My office was involved in supporting that event. It had a huge turnout and was a huge success. I would like to thank Villawood, the Town of Gawler, Gawler Business Development Group and the Gawler Central Shopping Centre for their sponsorship. I would like to thank the Rotary Club of Gawler Light, the Gawler Town Band, Father Christmas—of course—and other parade entries for making this event the community event of the year.

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