Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge the work that people do in our community of Capricornia, specifically those who teach at university and the young people who carry out projects under the Green Army banner. Several lecturers and a special program on technology run by CQU university's Rockhampton campus are being recognised with prestigious Australian government teaching awards.

I congratulate local academics and professional university staff who received citations for outstanding contributions to student learning through the Turnbull-Joyce government's 2016 Australian Awards for University Teaching. Academic Julie Fleming won an individual citation while Rockhampton's CQU educational technology team, featuring Colin Beer, Damien Clark and Rolley Tickner, received a team citation. These awards recognise the significant commitment and achievement of university teachers and professional staff in my electorate of Capricornia. Recently these teachers were among many community groups, such as Meals on Wheels, Red Cross and Surf Life Saving Australia, who were invited to lunch with the Prime Minister in Rockhampton to mark their contribution to our community.

Meanwhile, the Turnbull-Joyce government's Green Army Program continues to be successful in my electorate of Capricornia. Several Green Army teams of young people have completed work on important community projects in the Rockhampton and Livingstone shires. I was delighted to meet up with both groups. One group worked on projects at Yeppoon. This Green Army team included Ben Mathews, Callum Gorsch, Hayden Perkes, Dale Parkin, Mary Brown, Michael Tille, Patrick Kehoe and Jacob McLucas. The group was being supervised by Max Bundesen from Conservation Volunteers Australia, who is a wonderful contributor to the program. Max has supervised multiple Green Army projects and has done a wonderful job in mentoring young participants. His group undertook work with National Parks and Wildlife in the Livingstone shire to re-establish walking tracks near the Bluff Point.

I congratulate a second Green Army group who have completed important restoration work in Byfield National Park, which was badly damaged by Cyclone Marcia. The participants, led by supervisor John McGrath, recently graduated, and included Patrick Kehoe, Michael Tille, Callum Gorsch, Jacob McLucas, Hayden Perkes, Dale Parkin and Ben Mathews. Mary Brown and James Edwards left the program early to take up employment opportunities. Among other things, the team planted over 1,100 trees along Nine Mile Beach to help re-establish the dunes weakened by the cyclone and four wheel drives.