House debates

Monday, 25 May 2026

Statements by Members

Mayo Electorate: Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

4:00 pm

Photo of Rebekha SharkieRebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

It was incredibly moving to not just attend but to open one of South Australia's most successful Australia's Biggest Morning Tea fundraisers. And that was at Macclesfield in my community of Mayo in the Adelaide Hills. More than 200 people came together for the Macclesfield Young at Heart event. In fact, the population of Macclesfield is not much bigger than 200 people. So this was the whole town turning out. This was so much more than a morning tea. It was a gathering filled with generosity, resilience and love. We heard from Will McDonald, a South Australian newsreader who's had his own battle with cancer, and beautiful young Liana, who was diagnosed with stage IV. She is now three years clear in remission.

The club has hosted 19 of these events. It has raised more than $343,000 since its first event in 2008. The person who is responsible for pulling this all together is Cathy Megson-McAllister, and she has a remarkable story. She survived an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2005. She lost both of her parents in 2006, and she lost her husband, Barry, in 2016 to leukaemia. But she has kept going. She is the driving force behind this extraordinary event. Congratulations, Cathy and all from Macclesfield Young at Heart.

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