Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to talk about a wonderful Territorian, Ms Giovanna Webb, who happens to be a good friend of mine. I am delighted that Giovanna has been appointed as an executive committee member of the Council for Australia-Latin America Relations, or COALAR, as it is known. It sounds like 'koala', which I thought was quite ironic because Giovanna is actually a crocodile farmer from the Northern Territory. When somebody was talking about COALAR, I was thinking, 'No; it's crocodile,' but anyway it is completely different. Giovanna was in 2013 awarded Northern Territory Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Rural Woman of the Year, and in that same year she was a finalist in Australian of the Year. So she is quite an extraordinary young woman. She came from Colombia. I was at a function where she said that she is the real Colombian woman—she has still got that very thick Colombian accent and she is a very entertaining and very smart woman. She is going to be able to contribute a lot on this committee, and I am very proud to have her as the Northern Territory representative on COALAR.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Senator Scullion and I announced, earlier in the week, appointments for former Deputy Chief Minister Michael Reed and Rob Kendrick, who is another good friend of mine, from days gone past. Mike has been appointed as the chair of the Regional Development Australia committee and Rob is his deputy. Mike, as I said, is a former Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. He was in politics from 1987 to 2003 and made an extraordinary contribution to Territorians. So it is wonderful that he is going to be on that committee and provide an insight from the rural Territory. Rob Kendrick is a former police officer who has worked all across the Territory and also has a very good insight into some of the difficulties that we face in the Territory, particularly around infrastructure. So I am really looking forward to working with these two wonderful Territorians, who I believe are going to be able to make a big difference and work to ensure that we, as the Abbott government, are able to implement infrastructure that is going to support the Northern Territory, because we believe that we are leading the charge to develop northern Australia. It is wonderful that they are on that committee and that they share my passion for the Territory.

Talking about RDA funding, I visited the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre a couple of weeks ago, and that was a project that received, I think, $7 million of RDA funding. Michael Long is a very well-known Australian, and I am glad that he is a constituent of mine. This facility is just outstanding. I have never seen anything like it in the Territory. It is going to really benefit Indigenous children, particularly those from remote areas. Seeing the vision that Michael had come to fruition is just fantastic. The project is 100 per cent complete. Local builders Sitzler have done a fantastic job, as they do with every build that they are involved in. They always overdeliver. It is not very often that you hear stories about overdelivering, but that is exactly what has happened in this situation.

I would also like to advise you, Madam Speaker, that the Tiger Brennan Drive upgrade is well underway. That was one of my election commitments. The bulldozers are out, just like they are in Sydney. Even though we are in the middle of the wet season, it is all work underway. I look forward to that project being completed, with the help of the Northern Territory government.