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

Last week eight students from Maclean Public School had the opportunity to play at the Sydney Opera House. Sabrina Bowly, Hayden Fisher, Leah Jenkins, Sarah Jenkins, Ethan Fisher, Ethan Moore, Jocelyn Menzies and Caidence Purcell took part in the annual Festival of Instrumental Music after the school's bid to attend the festival was successful.

Sabrina also auditioned with over 100 vocal soloists for the opportunity to sing on stage and was one of just four vocalists to be selected. Her performance on the Opera House stage was accompanied by recorders and a string ensemble that was collectively made up of the public school students who were at the festival. The audience was 1,000-strong and, in the words of Jocelyn Menzies, it wasn't bad 'for a cool Scottish town on the mid-north coast where all the telegraph poles are painted in tartan'. Thank you to teachers Elizabeth Moore and Vanessa McMahon for giving these students such a wonderful life experience.

I would like to highlight a very special person who, against the odds, is winning in his chosen sports. Malachi Canning is nearly 12 years old and is in year 6 at Blue Hills College in Goonellabah. He has had plenty of hurdles to overcome. He is mentally delayed, has a hearing problem and needs to wear glasses. He takes medication, but none of these issues have stopped Malachi from achieving his goals. For the third time, he was recently awarded the New South Wales Government State Representative Award—the first time was for his performance as a para-athlete at the 2016 nationals for cross-country; the second time was for the 2016 Pacific School Games in athletics, and the final award for the Pacific Schools Games in Adelaide.

Malachi's most recent achievement nearly didn't happen when he was delayed at Ballina airport on his way to the New South Wales cross-country championships. The officials were literally calling his name when he and his mum, Annette, jumped out of the taxi and raced to the marshalling area. He ended up winning gold in this event. His parents, Malcolm and Annette, and brother, Malcolm, are understandably very proud of him. Congratulations, Malachi.

I recently had the honour of opening six new bridges in the community of Kyogle, and one of them has been named after respected local legend Jack Hurley, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 90. The name Jack Hurley is synonymous with the Kyogle community thanks to the trucking company the World War II veteran started with Alan Brown in 1946. For the last 72 years, Brown and Hurley has grown from a humble garage to a multimillion-dollar business with nine branches across Australia. Jack and Alan's families formed a tight-knit bond that is still evident today as the third generation has continued to run the established company.

Jack was also one of the driving forces behind the Lions Road project, the upgrade of the Summerland Way and was a very strong supporter of the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service. He was an avid golfer and his charity event, the two-day Brown and Hurley golf tournament, celebrated its 44th year in 2017. Since its inception, over four decades ago, the event has raised over $400,000, which has been returned to the North Coast through numerous charities. At his funeral, Jack was described as a man of great joy, a man who loved life and a man who loved a joke. Naming a bridge after him as a symbol of keeping the community connected seems to be an appropriate way to honour him.

Five special-needs judo athletes from Casino recently competed in the Australian National Judo Championships. All five of them took home medals. Zosia Seikot-Avgoulas won gold medals in both the women's over 78 kilograms division and the open women's division. She has now claimed the title of national champion for all weight divisions in the female special-needs category. Alison Rose won a silver medal in the women's over 78 kilograms division. Nicholas Pickett took away the silver medal in the men's over 78 kilograms division. Onica Gaudry won bronze in the women's over 78 kilograms division, and Aleah Gaudry took the silver in the women's 65 kilograms division. Kitsune judo coach Melissa Seikot is extremely proud of her students, and the Kitsune Judo Club now holds all the medals in the women's over 78 kilograms division as well as having the national title holder. Melissa also praised all of the other athletes who competed, for their outstanding performances. I congratulate them all on their fantastic results and wish them all the best in the future.