House debates Statements by Members

Marsden State High School

Thursday, 17 August 2017 House of Representatives

Jim Chalmers

Jim Chalmers Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition

1:48 pm

Cameron Smith, Tautau Moga, Chris Sandow and Antonio Winterstein all have one thing in common: they are all graduates of Marsden State High School in my electorate. I wanted to give a parliamentary shout-out to that great school today, because on Wednesday I will be going along to Redcliffe Dolphins to watch them play in the grand final of the Queensland schoolboys competition against Keebra Park. I want to congratulate my mate Andrew Peach, the principal of that school, and also the coach Joe O'Callaghan and the players and all the students, who have been doing such a terrific job.

I also wanted to alert the House to something even more special which is happening at Marsden State High School, and that is a program called MTC, which stands for Mates Talk Change. It is a mental health program that the Rugby League guys started but all the students participate in. It is led by Megan Mulcahy, a really inspirational teacher. The kids get together and they talk about their mental health and they raise awareness. They have a slogan, which is, 'It ain't weak to speak.' It ain't weak to speak about your mental health. It is fantastic. It's a great thing that they do. On Wednesday they will win the Queensland schoolboys comp. I am prepared to say here that they will win. But, even if they don't, even if by a freak of nature this amazing open boys team does not win on Wednesday against Keebra Park, the Mates Talk Change program will stand as a real tribute to a great school in the best local rugby league community on the planet.

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