Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Cootharinga North Queensland is a great society. It is all about inclusiveness and awareness when it comes to people with disability. They are aggressive, inventive and fun when it comes to fundraising and raising awareness—be it a cocktail party with an auction attached or a wine tree. We even had the Kelly pool world championships with a championship belt. This year, they have started to do the Kokoda Track. A little bit of it is about representing our city's close ties with a fantastic nation and our nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea. It is also about raising awareness and raising funds for Cootharinga as we move towards the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

I have two friends who have done it this year: Col Harkness and John Anderson. Col Harkness is a retired solicitor and former champion half-back for the Ross River Redskins and Johnny Anderson is still a very active journalist for the Townsville Bulletin. Both men look like they are in their 90s, but they carry on a lot younger than that. They are fairly ordinary human beings, but they do sting you for a bit of cash when it comes to support.

I am proud to have supported them. I do apologise that I was not able to join them. I did pull a heart muscle just before nominations closed. Congratulations to all who supported this them and to Cootharinga. What a great organisation. Let's talk about exclusiveness and education.