Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At its best, politics is about community service—and few do it better than Bob Dowling, the worthy recipient of the Lion Frank Brown Memorial Award for Community Service to the Tuggeranong Valley for 2016, awarded by the Lions Club of Canberra Kambah. The award takes its name from Frank Brown, an icon of the Canberra community. Frank's sudden death last year from motor neurone disease was a sad day for Canberra, and we remain indebted for his contribution. Through Bob Dowling's lifelong contribution to Canberra, it is clear that Frank's spirit of community service lives on.

When Bob found out that the Malkara School for students with a significant intellectual disability was in need of a school bus, he coordinated a fundraiser to help the school with its purchase. Bob established the Royals Rugby Union Club's foundation for the development of junior players and coordinated fundraising to assist injured players and players from disadvantaged backgrounds. Bob has supported Marist College with fundraising events; St Thomas the Apostle Primary School with coordinating its very famous school fete; the Marymead fete, another famous fete, with its chocolate wheel fundraiser; and the people of Canberra in recovering after the devastation of the 2003 bushfires. I congratulate Bob Dowling as the recipient of the 2016 Lion Frank Brown Memorial Award for Community Service to the Tuggeranong Valley. I can think of nobody more deserving of such an honour.