Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Thursday I attended the annual general meeting of the Eastlakes U3A in my electorate. I was overwhelmed by the number of people that were present—they actually had 301 people present at their AGM. They have 550 active members and they have in excess of 700 members. In addition to that, they run a variety of courses. I believe they have got 75 courses running currently, and that is coming towards the end of the year. In their peak season, I believe they have run up to 90 courses at one time. Eastlakes U3A will be holding the Network Conference at Belmont at the 16 Foot Sailing Club between 27 and 29 April. That is a fairly big honour for the club and it just shows how active they are and how well run the club is.

At the annual general meeting, there were a few changes. The then president, Barbara Thomson, stood down and the new president is Nielsine Oxenford. Barbara Thomson is now the vice president. We have Judy Harrison as secretary, Maureen Greensmith as treasurer, Pam MacAskill as course coordinator, Barbara Kathner as leader liaison officer, Isabelle Davies as venues officer, and it goes on with a number of other people that are very active in U3A.

At the annual general meeting, three were made life members: Kath Walsh, for recognition of her leadership role on the steering committee and participating in the executive; John Schindlair, for his role on the management committee—he had been involved since 2002, both as treasurer and publicity officer—and Kate Phillips, for her role on the management committee and as a leader of many causes.

The courses that are conducted by Eastlakes U3A range from crosswords to languages, bridge, Tai Chi, dancing and other physical activities, along with a series of clubs that they conduct. They have lunch clubs and guest speakers. It is a wonderful organisation, and everybody who is involved enjoys it. Everybody is welcome. I would like to congratulate them on a very successful year. Time expired—