Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the members for Hunter, Grayndler and Jagajaga on their 20 years of service. They have been a credit to the institution of this parliament.

Today I ask your indulgence to present this petition with signatures from 17,000 petitioners that have been collected by Jess Hackett, who walked the 700 kilometres from Melbourne to Canberra to make her point about the plight of refugees in this country. Jess was able to gather these 17,000 signatures from people from around her community and along the way as she walked from Melbourne to Canberra. On the way she received the hospitality that can only be delivered by country Australians—in every hamlet she went to she was embraced by the local community, taken into their homes and treated like a queen. Congratulations, Jess! As a young schoolteacher representing your school you are the epitome of what the Australian personality is all about, making a point about refugees by walking all the way from Melbourne to Canberra and striding up those front lawns the way you did, walking with the 'grandmothers for refugees'—though I do not know whether that was your final desire. But, Jess, you are a proud Australian, and we thank you. I am therefore pleased to present this petition.

The petition read as follows—