Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At 19 years of age, Macey Stewart from Devonport has a great future ahead of her in the sport of cycling. Last month Macey became the Junior Women's Individual Time Trial Wold Champion at the UCI Road Championships in Spain. This was her third championship jersey after she won gold in both the omnium and team pursuit at the 2014 UCI Juniors Track World Championships in South Korea in August. As part of the Pure Tasmania and Deloitte Cycling Team, Macey started cycling at the age of nine after her father and brothers took up the sport. Since then she has won numerous titles throughout her career, showing persistence, resilience and a dedication to the sport.

At the 2012 Under 19 Road National Championships here in Canberra, Macey had a major crash involving 10 riders. It resulted in Macey suffering two skull fractures, a chipped vertebra and bruising to the front of her brain. Macey did not let this stop her, bouncing back to on-road racing once the doctor gave her the all clear, and training on a stationary bike in her living room in the meantime.

A young woman of many talents, Macey is a talented singer and dancer, which she decided to put on the backburner to focus on cycling. As Devonport's Young Citizen of the Year in 2012 and having received, at the age of 12 in 2008, TheAdvocate newspaper's IGA Junior Sports Award, Macey is a great role model to young people in our community.

Macey will be at the senior women's track training camp in November in the hope of being picked for the senior women's track world cup in London, which would be her first competition in the senior division. Macey's ultimate goal is to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, at which I believe she has a red hot chance. But first she will back in Braddon as this year's ambassador for the Christmas carnival series. On behalf of the electorate of Braddon, I would like to congratulate Macey on her success so far and wish her all the best for all her future competitions. Macey, you do our electorate proud.

International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day was last week on 15 October. It is a sad fact that in Australia one in every four women have lost a child through miscarriage, stillbirth or postnatal causes. This special day enables parents and families across Australia to honour their babies who have passed away and help them on their grief journey.

I was pleased to be in attendance at the Gateway Community Care at the Gateway Church last Saturday, in conjunction with a lot of other organisations, where they hosted the White Butterfly Remembrance Service to support individuals and families through the trauma of losing a child before birth. One hundred women, men and family members lit candles and released balloons in memory of their little ones while also hearing from a number of people who have travelled the grief journey. The work that these groups do to support families in grief is to be praised, and I give them thanks for the service they provide to our community.