Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday, 18 October, I attended the official season opening of the Kingsway Little Athletics Centre. The centre consists of five clubs all within the boundaries of Cowan. These are Ballajura, Greenwood, Landsdale, Wanneroo and Woodvale.

As I have previously said in parliament, Little Athletics is an intense sporting organisation. Obviously it is about the athletes, but it is also renowned for the high level of dedication shown by the volunteers who are required to keep it all going. I pay tribute to the officials and the administrators for being able to make multiple events happen all at one time. I do not, of course, just turn up on the day of the official opening. My experience in the years that I have attended ordinary competition days is that it all appears to go like clockwork—the athletes get ready, the announcements are made and the guns start races. It all seems so smooth. Of course, I know that it is only that smooth because of hard work and the experienced, enthusiastic volunteers at every level from the clubs up to the Kingsway Centre making it happen.

I pay tribute to the centre committee for the 2014-15 season and thank them for what they do to give hundreds of young athletes the chance to compete and enjoy themselves. Thank you to the president, Carole Hale; the secretary, Bec Miller; the treasurer, Debbie Lees; and the registrar, Lee-Anne Jones. Thank you also to the more specifically technical members of the committee: Tracey Gartlan, Helen Hahn, Allan Savage, Paul Bennett, Simon Warner, Claudia Klaasen, Sean Gartlan and Angela Arbuckle.

I would also like to thank the club officials from Ballajura: president, Fraser Griggs; secretary, Cheryl Peak; Treasurer, Michelle Choules; registrar, Kerryn Weir; and manager, Kylie McVee. From Greenwood: president, Jason Kelly; secretary, Jenny Bennett; Treasurer, Marelle Titterington; registrar, Bron Waetford; and manager, Cathy Vosshage. From Lansdale: President, Des Lees; secretary and manager, Paul Arvidson; Treasurer, Sarah Atkinson and registrar Gina Hill. From Wanneroo club: president and manager, Shane Miller; secretary, Carolyn Butler; treasurer Bec Miller; and registrar Donna Wilson-Adams. And from Woodvale: president, Claudia Klaassen; secretary, Gail Styles; treasurer, Katherine Redden; registrar, Lee-anne Jones; and manager, Lois Crake.

To all those leaders at the centre and the clubs I say thank you for everything that you have done and all that you will do throughout the season. The athletes appreciate you, and I appreciate you for your efforts to build an even better community through the great organisation that is Little Athletics. Of course, I also wish the athletes a good season, where personal bests are always being achieved. May the odds be ever in your favour!

It was a good day and I only wish it had all been about the joys and successes of an excellent sporting organisation and the achievements of dedicated individuals. However, it is not a perfect world, and on Saturday the centre mourned the loss of Kalin Foley from Wanneroo. Kalin was 15. In June 2012 he was diagnosed with alveola rhabdomysarcoma, a soft-tissue-cell form of cancer. He was a dedicated athlete, and after a two-year battle he succumbed to the cancer on 22 September this year.

In a moving tribute attended by his parents, Paul and Brigitte, his brother, Logan, and sister, Jemma, who are both athletes at the centre, balloons were released by the athletes and the entire crowd clapped for a minute. It was a great and appropriate tribute to a young man who was liked by all who knew him and who was highly regarded for the courage he showed in this adversity.

Kalin was a dedicated Swans fan, and it was nice that Jude Bolton, of the Sydney Swans, supported Katlin. In fact, the Swans hosted Kalin and the family on several occasions and have included a tribute to Kalin on their website.

Whilst listening to the tribute to Kalin I thought about his fight, and it was a reminder that sometimes there is no justice in the world. It is so important for us to pursue medical research, and I hope that in the future the fight against these cancers can be won. Every time I hear or meet people in Cowan in connection with these diseases—and particularly where children are afflicted—I look forward to the implementation of the successes of our Medical Research Future Fund. The generation of $20 billion to fund the research to fight against sarcoma and other diseases is an ambition that I am determined to pursue it. Every day I think about how fortunate I am that my children are healthy, but I have met enough people to know that families and children throughout Cowan—and, in fact, throughout the country—are not as lucky as I am. I am dedicated to pursue better medical research for them.

My condolences go to the Foley family and their many friends for the loss of Kalin—lost to them, but never forgotten.