Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to congratulate the 33 students from local schools in the Throsby electorate who are the recipients of my annual Community Spirit and Leadership Awards. Time prevents my reading out their names but, suffice to say, they are the successful nominees chosen by their schools for appropriate recognition.

The annual Throsby Community Spirit and Leadership Awards program was instituted by me back in 2007. The purpose of the awards is to acknowledge students at all our local schools who actively contribute either to their school community or, indeed, to their wider community—for example, by volunteering for a range of school activities or involvement with local organisations like the Red Cross and also for their assistance, particularly for younger students and those with a disability, through numerous ‘buddy’ programs that are run in our schools.

It is often the case, as we know, that those students who excel academically or on the sporting field receive accolades at their annual school speech nights and presentations. The Throsby awards recognise those students whose contributions may be less immediately obvious but are just as valuable. I would like to quote the words of an editorial that appeared in our local paper, the Lake Times. It said:

Certain schools in the area are well-known for their sporting prowess, consistently producing high achievers on the sporting field.

Other schools set the bar high academically and still others have a strong reputation for pursuing the arts.

Within every high school there will be students who excel in each of those fields.

But for every would-be Brett Lee or high flying business person who picks up an accolade to encourage them on to bigger and better things, there are scores of students who won’t.

…            …            …

But the efforts of students who helped out disabled students at school, or acted as safety monitors or even who picked up garbage should not be underestimated—they may just go on to be the next Tim Costello or Gordon Bradbery

Gordon Bradbery is the local well-known and admired reverend of the Uniting Church.

I thank all the students and their family members who attended the awards presentation on 4 September. I hope the students benefit from the books they purchase with the voucher that was presented to them on the evening, along with their congratulatory certificates. Thanks also to the principals and staff of my schools. I would like to thank them for their encouragement of such a fine group of young local ambassadors who bring great credit to their school and to our community.