Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak today about an event held on 16 March: the fifth annual National Ride2School Day. National Ride2School Day promotes health and physical activity for children. Teachers, parents and students are encouraged to leave their cars at home and to either walk or ride their bikes to school. Prior to this event, I sent letters to the schools in my electorate, which is on the Sunshine Coast, encouraging them to participate in Ride2School Day.

Back in the seventies, more than 80 per cent of students walked or rode to school; however, now only 20 per cent of children do so, even though the majority of them live within five kilometres of their school. Many of these children are driven relatively short distances to school and so miss out on a great chance for some exercise. Inactive lifestyles expose one to preventable diseases such as obesity and diabetes. It is also known that children who have an active childhood are more likely to maintain this healthy lifestyle throughout their lives, and this limits the likelihood of obesity in later life.

I congratulate the organisation of Ride2School Day for their initiative in implementing an event that is directed towards improving the health and fitness of our youth. Ride2School Day started in Victoria in 2006 and has grown increasingly popular over the past five years. This year 140,000 children from more than 1,050 Australian schools participated in this physical activity. Many of them were riding to school for the first time. I also thank and congratulate all schools that participated this year by encouraging their student communities to take part in this event by walking, riding, scooting or skating to school. I give special mention to Kawana Waters State College for its early involvement in Ride2School Day and congratulate all students, parents and teachers for their participation.

I also speak today about the 11th annual Fisher Seniors Forum and Expo, which will be hosted by me later this year. The Fisher Seniors’ Forum and Expo was first hosted by the Fisher Seniors Council and me in 2001 and has grown in popularity substantially since then. The purpose of the forum and expo is to provide senior residents of the Sunshine Coast with friendly and informal access to free information about issues that affect them.

This year we will be honoured by the presence of the shadow minister for seniors, the honourable member for Mackellar, at the forum as a special guest. The honourable member attended the forum last year. She also attended it in 2001 as Minister for Aged Care. I take this opportunity to thank the shadow minister for her presence at occasions of such importance to the Fisher seniors community. Each year the seniors expo that accompanies the forum features a large number of exhibitors who are ready to give helpful free advice on a range of products and services of interest to seniors. Last year’s forum attracted 30 different exhibitors from a wide variety of services such as healthy eating, hearing specialists and sun care.

I now turn to an issue which is close to our hearts—that is, the safety and protection of our children. Last weekend I attended with my wife, Inge, the sixth annual Dance for Daniel, the main annual fundraiser for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, which works to provide child safety education and support for young victims of crime across Australia. The Dance for Daniel is a night where the dress code is ‘red tie’ or ‘red outfit’ to commemorate the life of Daniel Morcombe, who went missing on 7 December 2003. His case has become the biggest investigation in Queensland police history and resulted in the formation of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

An auction is held to raise money for the foundation so that they can continue to inform children and parents of the dangers of child predators. There is also a silent auction and, Mr Speaker, you will be pleased to know that I purchased the Kevin 07 framed T-shirt at a cost of more than $300, but that money is of course going to a very worthy cause. There is a need to set boundaries in order to keep our children safe. Up for grabs on the evening was a range of items. In addition to the Kevin 07 T-shirt, there was a scarf signed by the Prime Minister. It also raised a substantial amount of money, and I would like to thank both the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs for their donations to such a worthy cause. The Minister for Foreign Affairs also spoke in the Main Committee on the disappearance of Daniel Morcombe.

Daniel was just 13 and wearing a red T-shirt when he disappeared from under the Kiel Mountain Road overpass on the Nambour Connection Road. Through this tragedy, which no parent and no family should suffer, Denise and Bruce Morcombe have become magnificent advocates for child safety and risen to take on an important role in the community that is both invaluable and priceless. Over the seven-plus years since the disappearance of Daniel Morcombe, the case has generated publicity and media coverage across the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia and even internationally. Denise and Bruce are true heroes of our community and I commend them for their ongoing good work.

I once again urge all of us in the Australian parliament to wear red this year for the Day for Daniel, as so many people from the Prime Minister to the Leader of the Opposition and your good self, Mr Speaker—as well as so many other members—have done in order to highlight the importance of child safety in Australia. (Time expired)