David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

On 7 August I attended the Jubilee Community Services High Tea at Mortdale Community Centre. The High Tea was arranged to raise funds for the Mental Health Arts Development program run by Jubilee. More than $3,000 was raised at the event. It was very well attended. There would have been well in excess of 100 people there. I drew the raffle on the day, and there were many great items that had been donated for the purpose of that raffle. Thanks to the general manager, Lance Rickards; the community development officer, Maree Gunn; and everyone else at Jubilee. In its new premises at Mortdale, Jubilee has gone from strength to strength. It is a very well-led organisation, and it was great to support it on the day.

On 9 August I visited Revesby Public School to talk to the year 5 and 6 students. They're studying government, learning all about our democracy. It was great to talk to them about parliament, the things that happen down here in the parliamentary system in Canberra and the work of the local MP in their electorate. We had a great Q&A session. As is so often the case, the questions from the kids were very insightful and very impressive. Thanks to the principal, Narelle Nies, for everything that she does for the Revesby Public School community, and thank you to the kids for all their great questions on the day.

On 10 August I visited East Hills Girls Technology High School, a school with a tremendous reputation for technical education. That reputation has been well deserved over many decades. I met with a year 10 science class to talk about STEM—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—as part of a program run in schools in conjunction with the CSIRO, particularly focused on the next generation of young female leaders in those professions. I had a great discussion with the class about future career opportunities. It was also good to see them working on some ideas about the careers of the future. Thanks to Principal Jennifer Hardwick and teacher Suzanne Ford for their hospitality on the day.

I suspect that Banks has one of the strongest Scouting communities anywhere in Australia. On 7 August I visited the 2nd Panania Scout Group for their District Club Campfire, which included three other fantastic Scout troops from Banks—2nd Mortdale, Oatley Bay and Picnic Point. We have a very strong and proud scouting community in the Banks area, and every year the annual campfire is held and different troops get together. Thanks to Rachel McClelland, for her leadership of the group at Panania, and to Andrew Plunkett and all the other leaders who do so much to create opportunities for our local kids.

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