Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the outstanding achievements of one of our community is great hardworking young people, Jessica Quelch. Jessica recently completed the intense 97-kilometre Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea as part of the PCYC's emerging leaders program. She is one of 12 young people in Queensland chosen to participate, and she underwent four months of training before taking on the tropical terrain, humid climate and sometimes torrential rainfall to walk the famous track. She learnt more about World War II, met the locals and now, as she said in her own words, has 'a new appreciation for the gruelling experiences that our Australian soldiers faced during World War II.

The trip was logged as the 'adventurous journey' component of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, an award she hopes to complete in the next 12 months. A member of PCYC since 2008, Jessica joined the youth group at age 11 and has since completed Bridge Awards and has undertaken Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver Awards.

Since being selected for the state youth leadership program, she has attended various camps, volunteered as events, fund raised and attended many other community events. Among all her leadership commitments and school, Jessica has also found the time to volunteer for St John's. She is a truly outstanding example of what young people can achieve when they put their minds to it. Too often we hear negative stories about young people in the media, but there are so many positive stories of young people doing great things in our community. I would like to congratulate Jessica on what she has achieved, both with the assistance of the PCYC and through St John's. She is just one of the many great examples of amazing young people in my electorate of Forde, and I have no doubt we will hear a lot more about Jessica in the future.

This is just one example of many young people, whether it is Jessica or the under 18s at Loganholme FC that I saw last week at the football awards. The terrific work they are doing within the club and in the local community will ensure our community has future generations of leaders with tremendous community spirit. It is one of the joys of this job that we get to see this on a daily basis and to acknowledge the terrific work they contribute to our community at such a young age.