Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the tremendous work being done in my electorate by the Beaudesert Rotary Club. Recently, I attended the club's weekly meeting as a guest speaker and shared my experience of a recent trip aboard HMAS Anzac, as part of the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program in August this year. I spent five days with the Royal Australian Navy's ship, patrolling the waters around Somalia and learning how the sailors are tasked with protecting ships from pirates, preventing the trafficking of weapons and drugs, and stopping the trade of people. I was able to show photos of the trip and explain how it helped me to gain a greater appreciation for the work of the men and women who serve in the Australian Defence Force. I also explained that, through immersing myself in the everyday life of sailors, I gained a better understanding of the Navy's mission in the Middle or East and the cooperation of the coalition forces. The speech was also an opportunity to talk about Clive Nevelle, former constituent of Wright, who is now a sailor on board HMAS Anzac. It was quite a surprise to meet someone from my home town out in the middle of the Indian Ocean aboard an Australian vessel. Mr Nevelle, who originally was from Boonah, went to school at Aratula and later at the Boonah State High School. An article about Mr Nevelle was recently featured in the Fassifern Valley newspaper, a copy of which I sent to him out on the vessel. The speech was also an opportunity for the Rotary members to ask questions about the Defence Force role in the region, of which they were very interested to know more about.

This week, to reciprocate the hospitality of the ADF, I have the honour of hosting Lieutenant Scott Macpherson from the Royal Australian Navy, who escorted our recent parliamentary program participants into the Middle East operations area. Lieutenant Macpherson is here for four days to experience life as a parliamentarian. As I am sure many who have participated in the program previously would agree, this program offers an unprecedented awareness of the day-to-day life of those men and women who are consistently sent into harm's way and, likewise, for those men and women to see how we work here in the parliament and make the decisions that we do. I would like to thank the ADF Parliamentary Program and those who make it a success, both from this parliament and the ADF, for the opportunity to participate in this very worthwhile experience.

In closing, I also take this opportunity to say thank you to the members of the Beaudesert Rotary Club for allowing me to spend part of the evening with them and to take the opportunity to share my experiences with them, in particular, the President, Kevin Marsden, Chairman, Doug Larvers-McBain and guest Sergeant-at-Arms, Susie Gaarstead. Recently we had the Beaudesert Show, another community event where Beaudesert Rotary Club was involved in flipping burgers, along with the Jimboomba Rotary Club, who manned the gate. Rotary International is a formidable organisation which should be encouraged.