Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the 44th Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria Urban Junior State Championships in Tatura. There were about 2,000 members and their families there at the Tatura Racecourse, and at the official opening and morning tea it was great to see everybody get involved. These championships have been running for 42 years, and there were about 70 teams from across Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia competing. The weekend's event has been one of the regular competitions happening across the nation since November. Young boys and girls in their hundreds were competing hard, shaking hands at the completion of all of their events, and setting themselves on a pathway to serve their communities. Tatura Urban Fire Brigade 2nd Lieutenant Alan Tyson says that these competitions are a great breeding ground for future firefighters. They are also a great opportunity for the students to compete, along with all the other groups around the state. These mature young people are being nurtured by the fire brigade to have the basic skills, the right ethics and the right attitude towards volunteerism and community service. And it certainly was great to see that Tatura was the brigade that actually won on the day. Congratulations to everybody involved.