Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last year I once again celebrated the achievements of some outstanding young leaders from Melbourne's west with the annual Gorton Young Leaders Awards. I established the Gorton Young Leaders Awards program in 2009 to recognise the year 12 students from the electorate of Gorton who have shown an exceptional commitment to public service, specifically through involvement in voluntary work, student leadership or community service. In the most recent round, I congratulated the winners in my electorate office in Caroline Springs at an event which brought together 14 winners, their families, college principals and teachers from seven local schools in the electorate of Gorton. The winners were: Maddison Fenech and David Dous of Lakeview Senior College, Irene Mach and Jorel Basangan of Gilson College, Brandon Lee and Sarah Broederlow of Copperfield College, Courtney Semini and Zephan Hocking of Melton Christian College, Nikita Davies and Ethan McIntosh of Staughton College, Madison Tibos and Leyton Bush of Kurunjang Secondary College, and Anna Cicalese and Fernando Rios-Rodriguez of Catholic Regional College in Melton.

The work of these students and their commitment to our community is truly inspirational. The Gorton Young Leaders Awards is one way to recognise and encourage local young people who have demonstrated a commitment to active public leadership within their schools and their communities. Now in its ninth year, I am forever impressed with the remarkable achievements of the prize winners, with their fantastic local talent, who call Melbourne's west their home. This is an award that provides me with an opportunity to meet future leaders of this country—future leaders of their communities. It is a useful way to recognise these young people.

Too often young people are demonised publicly by the media. There are too often stories about why young people are not contributing in a particular way. Quite often, there's a distortion in the public discourse about young people. If members of parliament can provide a platform to recognise selfless young people, who want to help others and want to show leadership, then it's an important thing to do. I can assure the House that we'll continue to have the Gorton Young Leaders Awards while I'm the member, and I will be watching these young people closely as they become leaders of the future and an inspiration for those who follow.