Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate John Warby Public School in Airds and Wizard of Oz Funland in Leumeah on their recent wins at the 2014 Champions of the West awards. More than 400 people, including Prime Minister Tony Abbott, attended the award ceremony, which was presented by NewsLocal, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. I congratulate Principal Ann Kitchen and the John Warby Public School community on their school bus project, which won the Indigenous category. I also congratulate Brian and Christerine Laul, from Wizard of Oz Funland, who took out the tourism prize for their Celebrate Campbelltown campaign. Each of them received $10,000 for their projects. I was very honoured to attend the awards and proud to see these two winners receive their prize.

It was also fantastic to see Campbelltown Performing Arts High School entertaining the crowd and showcasing some of the great talent we have in Macarthur. The Macarthur region had 10 inspiring finalists for the awards—more than any other area in Western Sydney. These finalists included Camden Public School, for their canteen upgrade; Macarthur Workplace Learning Program, for Macarthur iCareer; Focus on Families, for Help for Multiple Mums; John Warby Public School, for its school bus initiative; Wizard of Oz Funland, for Celebrate Campbelltown; Youth Solutions, for its Peer Enrichment and Empowerment project; Tharawal Local Aboriginal Land Council, for the Tharawal Cultural and Arts Centre; The Tribute Australia volunteer magazine; Shine Early Intervention, for its sensory gym; and the Sydney Trail Riding Centre, for Horses Helping People.

I am very proud of all the finalists in Macarthur. I look forward to an even bigger representation from my electorate at next year's awards, and hopefully we will be able to hold those ceremonies in the Macarthur region.