Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge one of my wonderful constituents, Helene Dillon, as the winner of the Heritage Bank's People First Award in their annual volunteer of the year competition. Ms Dillon, at 84, was nominated for her commitment to some 30 years of support of the elderly and people with disabilities through her work at Flexible Living. In that time, Ms Dillon has put in over 14,000 hours of voluntary work, made some 36,000 of her famous scones and supported more than 5,000 people. I would like to congratulate her for her wonderful achievements. It was a well-deserved award and she is a credit to our community, having been involved in volunteering for over 60 years.

I would also like to congratulate the efforts of Merino Country, an undergarment and active wear manufacturer who uses 100 per cent merino wool. Merino Country is one of our manufacturing success stories, and they are big supporters of Dragons Abreast, a national not-for-profit registered charity for breast cancer survivors and supporters. When people purchase one of their baa bras, Merino Country make a donation to Dragons Abreast, a dragon boat paddling team. The innovative design of the baa bra has been praised by cancer patients and survivors as the most comfortable bra on the market. I applaud them for their commitment to improving the comfort of women suffering with breast cancer.