Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the young people from Rotary who are in the chamber here this morning. In that context, it is always inspiring to see young people in our community working to improve the lives of others, especially when it involves a considerable personal challenge. For the past 52 years, senior students at Launceston Church Grammar School have organised an annual fundraising walkathon with the money donated to worthy causes. In early April this year, 75 young men and women from year 12 at Grammar completed an 80-kilometre trek from Deloraine to the school campus at Mowbray.

The annual 80-kilometre walkathon in 20 hours has become something of a rite of passage for year 12 students at Grammar. It is said to have originated from a challenge by the late US President John F Kennedy, who said that a fit person should be able to walk 50 miles, or 80 kilometres, in 20 hours. School headmaster Stephen Norris says students gain a great sense of achievement from the non-stop walk. It is a tough physical and mental challenge helping the students learn more about themselves and about supporting one another.

This year they also raised nearly $20,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Tasmania. It was a similar effort in 2014 when around the same amount was raised for Variety. I congratulate Launceston Church Grammar School for undertaking a daunting challenge over the past 52 years and raising much-needed funds for local charities.

I am also delighted to report that tourism operators in my state of Tasmania were most successful at the 30th Australian Tourism Awards conducted in Adelaide in April. In fact, Tasmania was definitely the talk of the town, winning 10 of 29 categories at the awards. The Port Arthur Historic Site won the Major Tourist Attraction Award, as well as the Heritage Tourism Award. Bruny Island Cruises won the Regional Tourist Attraction category and Ecotourism Business category. Rob Pennicott, the energetic and innovative force behind Bruny Island Cruises, was rewarded with the Award For Excellence in sustainable tourism for his Pennicott Wilderness Journeys and for his new tourism development, Tasmanian Seafood Seduction. He was then named an Australian Tourism Legend.

It is not just the big tourism operators in Tasmania that are having a big impact. Launceston tourism training provider, Rebecca King, beat some of the country's largest TAFEs and training organisations to win the education and training section of the awards. Mrs King runs her business, Kingthing Marketing, and mentors tourism operators in North Queensland and South Australia, as well as those in our home state.

I was also pleased to see Launceston Airport, and the James Boag brewery in Launceston, recognised at these awards. A vibrant and innovative tourism industry is important to the Tasmanian economy, and I congratulate all of the businesses that received recognition at the Australian Tourism Awards, especially those from my home state of Tasmania.