Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

McKinley Arnison is an 11-year-old athlete that excels in the water and on the land. What makes her results even more outstanding is that she competes with cerebral palsy. Her medical condition means that she competes in the category S8, and her results this year have been outstanding. In November last year, she won bronze medals that the New South Wales Primary School Sports Association state athletics championships; one for discus and the other for long jump. This year, she competed in the shot-put and discus at the same NSW PSSA event, finishing in second place in the shot-put and eighth in the discus. The second place in the shot-put means that she now qualifies for the national championships later this month.

Even though these results are impressive, they pale in comparison to her recent success at the para-swimming championships. She competed in several multiclass events picking up five gold metals. McKinley took out gold in the 50-metre freestyle, 50-metre backstroke, 50-metre breaststroke, 50-metre butterfly and, lastly, the 100-metre freestyle. She recorded her personal best in each race. She was also lucky enough to have her medals presented to her by the Australian Paralympian swimmer, Timothy Hodge, who competed in Rio recently. McKinley has been swimming since the age of eight and has been swimming with the Richmond Valley Club since starting her journey to an elite sportsperson. Of course, McKinley balances these fantastic sporting achievements with a busy life at the Evans River K-12. Well done to McKinley and congratulations on your effort.

Volunteers play a vital role in regional communities and in my community there are many local organisations that rely on the tireless efforts of their volunteers. Earlier this year, a number of community organisations had the opportunity to access grant funding through the government's strengthening communities program. The grants were between $1,000 and $5,000 and allowed organisations to buy much-needed equipment such as computers and assist with transport costs, first aid courses and the like for their volunteers. Some of the organisations within my community that benefited from these grants included: the Casino Neighbourhood Centre, the volunteer Marine Rescue at Evans Head, the Mend & Make Do Crew in South Grafton, the 1st Lismore Scout Group, Meals on Wheels in Iluka, the Northern Region Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service, the Lismore Thistles Soccer Football Club, the Kyogle District Care Connection, the Grafton stroke recovering club, Community Radio Coraki and the Clarence Valley Vietnam Veterans' Association. There were many others as well, and I am very happy to say that the government has again recognised the value that volunteers play in building inclusive communities by announcing another round of this fantastic program. I encourage all community organisations which reply on volunteers to apply for this funding to assist them with the wonderful work that they do.