Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take the opportunity today to commend the staff and students of the Illawarra Institute of TAFE for the extraordinary effort that went into a fabulous evening, Dining with the Stars. The students at the college worked with a celebrity group of chefs to prepare an amazing dinner at the college facility. The major celebrity chef was Glen Flood, who originally trained at Wollongong, was awarded Apprentice of the Year in New South Wales and, after some international experience, joined the team in Melbourne at Australia’s first Fifteen Restaurant and the Fifteen Foundation. We know that this venture was originally set up by Jamie Oliver in the UK to train underprivileged young people as chefs.

The night also featured local talented chefs: Glen Gatland from Zach’s Cafe at City Diggers; Michael Ciot from Michael’s Trattoria; and Chedo Bezbradica of Chedo’s. The teaching staff at the college are to be warmly commended for helping the students of Syner G 2007 in hosting this special local event. As the students said:

We have organised this spectacular event to further our experience in the hospitality industry and learned firsthand what is involved in such an event. Our goal is to improve the personal confidence, interpersonal skills and employment opportunities through developing skills and knowledge in the hospitality industry. We have recognised the barriers to achieve our goal and we will deal with them in a professional and timely manner. Tonight is an opportunity for many of us to successfully plan and operate an event to this extent. Syner G has an opportunity to experience the hospitality industry firsthand in our learning environment. The apprentice chefs have a chance of a lifetime to work with three great local chefs and one interstate extraordinaire. Our guests tonight have the opportunity to experience an entertaining and informative event, all the while supporting our education and experiences.

As the local federal member, it was certainly a privilege to be part of this fantastic event and see the wonderful outcomes in our public TAFE system and the way that public TAFE system is working in close cooperation with local industry bodies.