Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to pay tribute to a very special young boy, his family and the local community in Casey. Josiah Sherwood is an eight-year-old boy who was born with a very rare condition called moebius syndrome, which affects the nerves and muscles on one side of his face, meaning he has trouble swallowing, his right eye does not blink and he has difficulty shutting it. He has been through a terrible ordeal with all of this. Some time ago he had the first of two operations to correct this rare condition in Australia. The second operation must take place in Canada and obviously is a very expensive endeavour. But it is a great community story from Mount Evelyn, in the Casey federal electorate, where the community and his family and friends have worked tirelessly to raise funds so he is able to go to Canada for this very rare operation.

I was privileged to play just a very small part in raising some of that money by getting local people, some people in this building, to sponsor me on how far I could kick a football—and we were able to raise a small amount of money. It was great to be part of their journey and I am grateful for all of those who lent their financial support. I am particularly grateful to all of them who topped up their contributions when I could not kick as far as I thought I could.

I make mention of this today because this Sunday Josiah leaves for Canada with his family. He will be there for some months to have this complicated operation. When he returns he will have a normal smile, which is what he and his family have wanted since the day he was born. I want to pay tribute to them for their determination and their sunny outlook right through what has been a very difficult situation, and to all of their generous friends throughout the outer east of Melbourne who have assisted them, including Josiah’s school, Mount Evelyn Christian School, which has made all of its fundraising efforts in recent years go towards Josiah’s appeal. I pay tribute to the principal, Martin Hanscamp, for his leadership, and to all of the schoolteachers and parents.