Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Most of us in this place have attended numerous high school graduation events over the last week or so. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the year 12 students in my electorate of Forde who graduated from high school into last week. What a tremendous time this is in your lives. I am sure that many of you felt that the end of your schooling could not come quickly enough. But believe me when I say that your high school years will always be some of the best times of your life. Completing high school education would not be possible without the incredible team of supporters behind each student. On that note, I would like to thank all the teachers, principals, school volunteers, parents and carers in my electorate for your hard work and dedication to support the graduates of 2015.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a number of graduation ceremonies as well as academic and sporting award ceremonies. We have some talented students in my electorate who are achieving amazing things. Among them are the leaders of the future—politicians, CEOs, innovators, inventors, athletes, academics and advocates—who all have the potential to change this world for the better. Our high school education is filled with many challenges, ups and downs, laughter and tears—and getting to the finish line can sometimes be a bittersweet moment, as was witnessed at many of the ceremonies. Graduating high school is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on your time at school. It will have been a time of learning, exploring and contemplation. You will have made friends and lost friends. Some of your peers will become lifelong friends, and others you may never see again.

But finishing school is not the end of learning; it is only the beginning. School will never teach you all you need to know but it will teach you the basics, and what you do with that knowledge is up to you. I encourage every student who has finished year 12 this year never to lose their desire to learn, grow and develop personally and, in that journey, bring others with you. It is through the inclusion of others in your journey that you can create a better future for yourselves, the community, this nation and the world. I wish you every success in your future endeavours following your successful graduation.