Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to put on record five outstanding young Australians from the electorate of Fadden who have received recently a sports championship award given from the program that each federal MP administers. I will outline some of the great things they have done and also put on the record my thanks to a great Olympian, Barry Kelly, who is also a primary school teacher at Pacific Pines State School and who is the chairman of the Local Sporting Champions Grant committee on the Gold Coast. I thank him for his commitment and his love of what he does in the service of his community.

The five great Australians are Lauren Nash, Amy Morland, Sariah We Neera, Calvin Quirk and Ben Houghton. Lauren Nash used the contribution that she received to attend the World Free Skating Championship. Her mother sends a huge thankyou for approving the funding for Lauren. She says: ' We are so appreciative as this is our only funding that we have received. Have been driving friends and family mad with Cadbury chocolates and raffles.' Lauren has just returned from competing at the Oceanias with a gold medal and is the Cadet Ladies Free Skating Champion for 2013. She is very happy as her Nan passed away just before she left for the competition and she really wanted to come home with gold for her Nan. She is looking forward to travelling to Germany in a few weeks to compete in the German Cup. Her goal was to skate at the worlds and to compete in the 2013 German Cup, the highest event in the skating calendar. She was placed 10th in the world for her age group.

Ms Amy Morland, in the Australian Schoolgirls Football Tour, started playing soccer at Runaway Bay in my electorate at a very young age. She has had a phenomenal progression through her sport: rep football at age 12. She trains locally two nights a week. The grant has helped her achieve recently at the magnificent Rio De Janeiro. Her team had three wins, three losses and one draw—incredible for a team playing girls football in South America. She was awarded the best player on and off the pitch. She has been offered a trial with the Newcastle Jets and the Brisbane Roar are showing some interest.

Sariah We Neera used her grant for the state basketball under-16 championships. She trains six days a week and before-school training starts at 5.45 am. She has played in the under-23 league to qualify. The grant has helped her to achieve attendance at the state championships where her team came seventh. Based on her performance at this competition, she was selected to play in the Queensland state under-16 team. She will head to Adelaide in July and she has continued to fundraise as this trip will cost $300. So far she has sold 30 boxes of fundraising chocolates to raise almost $1,000.

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