Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to recognise the outstanding work of a young volunteer in the Casey electorate, and that is Prue Northey from Mount Evelyn. In 2010, Prue joined Yarra Ranges Relay for Life as a volunteer committee member, after participating in the event for many years. As she told the local paper earlier this year, her interest started after her cousin died from cancer at the age of 19, and so she went along to the Relay for Life committee and asked how she could become involved. After two years as a committee member, she became the chair at the age of 19, managing a committee of 10 people of all ages. Last year she managed the event at a new location, and she has overseen 70 teams and 900 participants from across the Yarra Ranges and raised nearly $130,000 for the Cancer Council for research. She was recognised on Australia Day by the Yarra Ranges council and was named Young Citizen of the Year. As I said, I wanted to recognise the great work that she has done and the inspiration she is to other young people in the Casey electorate who are volunteering.