David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I visited the REDsugar Arts Centre in Hurstville to present the Banks Outstanding Artistic Achievement Awards. A total of 26 awards were presented and it was a great afternoon to visit the centre and see the very fine artworks on display ranging from young primary school kids all the way through to year 12 students. I would like to congratulate Winnie Liu on her strong leadership of the centre and all of the students for their success at the centre. As a nation, we do a great job of celebrating and promoting sporting achievements. That is a good thing and it is entirely appropriate. But we should never forget to also acknowledge achievements in the arts, particularly from young people in our community. Again, I thank REDsugar Arts Centre for its hospitality on the day.

I would also like to thank Padstow North Public School for a recent visit that I made to the school. I chatted with year 5 and 6 students about the federal parliament and government. The school had visited parliament. Unfortunately, that was in a non-sitting week, so I was not able to meet them on the day. We had a really good discussion recently about government. You often find that some of the most insightful questions you receive about the functioning of the parliament, government and democracy come from school kids in the community—and that was certainly the case on the day. I would like to thank the school principal, Natalie Armstrong, and also the class teacher, Sandra Chegwidden, for inviting me along to have that great conversation on the day.

In my electorate of Banks we are fortunate to have a strong Girl Guides community. My daughter is an enthusiastic participant in Girl Guides and we have many great Girl Guides groups in the area. In Narwee, we have a regional Girl Guides centre. Recently, the Southern Sydney River Region Girl Guides Awards were held to present the Baden Powell Award and the Junior Baden Powell Award. The Baden Powell awards are very important in the life of a girl guide because they acknowledge the achievements of the girls in learning the basic and more advanced skills that are an important part of becoming a girl guide. It was great to see so many of the kids from my area at the event, and I certainly congratulate everyone who was involved on the day. Revesby, Mortdale and a number of other Girl Guides groups in our region were present on the day.

Last Saturday night, along with the members for Throsby and Hughes, I attended the 50th anniversary concert of the Macedonian Cultural and Artistic Association Illindin. This was a very big deal and was held at the State Theatre in Sydney, arguably the finest performance space in the city. It was a coming together of the performers from the Illindin community of the last 50 years—different generations who had come together to celebrate and promote the ancient Macedonian culture. It was a really entertaining night. I would like to congratulate, the president of the association, Mr Peco Naumoski, and the Macedonian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Vele Trpevski, who does so much in the Australian Macedonian community. Congratulations to all the performers on what was a terrific night.

I recently attended the opening night of the St George Creative Art and Craft Centre's annual exhibition. This is a community artistic group with artwork from kindergarten kids right through to some of the more senior members of our community—pottery, paintings, sketches, woodwork and a whole bunch of really impressive pieces of art. The centre has been there since the 1970s. It is next door to the Pole Depot Community Centre in Penshurst. For many generations of St George residents, it has provided a place for artistic endeavour. There are many volunteers who are involved in managing the centre, running classes and so on. Thank you so much for what you have put into the community. It was good to see Margaret Conlon and many of the other members of the executive there on the evening.