Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to congratulate Lucy Reggio, a Bonnyrigg Heights resident, who was highly commended in last week's University of Western Sydney Women of the West Awards. This award recognises outstanding women who live and work in Western Sydney and make a positive contribution to individuals, families and local communities. I nominated Lucy for this prestigious award because over many years I have seen her generosity, her drive and her passion for helping families that live with disabilities. Her fight for people with disabilities is particularly important in my electorate, which unfortunately is overrepresented by people living with disabilities. For this reason, only recently I hosted another disability forum in my electorate, which brought together over 90 people with disabilities, their carers and service providers who all came together to talk about this important issue.

Lucy Reggio once again proved that she is one of the hardest working members of my community by dedicating a lot of her time to helping to put together that forum. Lucy juggles a number of important responsibilities and yet always finds time for others. She is the founder and president of the Special Needs Ability Program Providers, called SNAPP, a community development project officer with Mission Australia and an energetic volunteer at the Les Powell Special School, all the while being a doting mother of two.

One of her sons is a very special 15-year-old, Alex, who suffers from a very rare genetic disorder. Alex does not let that stop him or get in the way of being an avid sports fan and a successful soccer player. But as Lucy often says, Alex inspires her to get involved and assist others, particularly in organising sporting and family activities that cater for children with special needs. SNAPP offers soccer, tenpin bowling and family games nights as well as recreation activities for parents. Unfortunately, most sporting clubs do not cater for people with special needs, and Lucy is one of those very special and dedicated people in our community that stands up for inclusion, breaking down the barriers for members of our community whose voices are not always as strong as others.

I had the honour of attending last week's Women of the West Awards at the University of Western Sydney—a fantastic ceremony—and witnessing not only Lucy's surprise but also her humility in being recognised for this prestigious award. Once again, I would like to congratulate Lucy Reggio on this most deserved award and indicate that on behalf of a very grateful community I am indeed indebted for what she does for people with disabilities.