Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was my great honour to present 46 local community champions and two organisations with Menzies Community Australia Day Awards on Sunday 26 January 2020. These awards are nominated by local community members for local community members and are a great way to honour those who make Menzies an even better place to live.

Manningham Promoting Character received the special recognition award this year. Although ceasing operations after 19 years of service for the local community, it seemed fitting for special recognition. It is an organisation that has been much loved in the local community and has helped to foster a sense of pride and belonging in Manningham. Indeed, Manningham Promoting Character aimed to do just that, to promote character development by recognising and rewarding citizens who showed good character. Manningham Promoting Character, therefore, deserves the recognition for its commitment to the local community, for its love of the local community and for its tireless efforts in making Manningham an even better place.

Eltham Men's Shed received the community organisation award of the year. It is a wonderful organisation that not only provides a home away from home but also gives back to the local community through various projects. Established in 2014, the men's shed has become a thriving organisation that is truly supportive of its membership. It also benefits the greater community through projects like bicycle maintenance and recycling, with the bikes donated to deserving children, families and groups. The Eltham Men's Shed is an organisation that not only supports its members but also supports the local community.

The 46 individual recipients were from a variety of different groups in the community and are so well deserving for the honour. I will mention just a few. Malihe Amini and Tanya Warms are from MannaCare. A lawyer from Iran, Malihe came to Australia unable to practice and so joined MannaCare first as a volunteer and then as a cleaner. She is now the rostering coordinator for the flexicare at MannaCare and is much loved. Tanya is currently a volunteer coordinator at MannaCare. She is well respected in the community and held in high regard with the volunteers she oversees.

Annette Bass and Jan Skinner are from the Kiwanis Club of Manningham. Annette and Jan have dedicated much of their free time to help with local fundraising events.

Lula Black and Patricia Taylor are from the Manningham U3A. They share the role as tutors of the written word class at the U3A. Both Lula and Patricia encourage and assist members of their class to become writers of short stories. Together they have published six volumes of short stories and poems—The Golden Quill numbers one to six—written by class members since 2009.

Acting Sergeant Damien Bouman and Inspector Craig Pearson are from the Doncaster police. In 2019, Damian led junior police officers in the creation of the precinct policing model, a community partnership policing concept with local traders at shopping strips across Manningham. Damien, unfortunately, was unable to attend the awards because he was doing something very important: helping with the bushfire efforts elsewhere in Victoria. Craig is a local area commander in Manningham. He builds trust and likes to make people feel better within their community, as well as among members of the police force. Already Craig has implemented the Convo with a Cop program, where schools and community organisations are encouraged to engage with members of our local police station.

Liana Poon and Sam Fan are from the Chinese Senior Citizens Club of Manningham. Sam always goes the extra mile and assists with numerous duties required to ensure the smooth running of the club and its many activities. He also does a great job in the kitchen, assisting with the purchase, organisation and preparation of more than 180 meals each week. Liana oversees critical administrative activities such as welcoming new members and renewing memberships. She also contributes positively to the Manningham Council seniors reference group and assists with video recording at major festive occasions in our community.

These are just some of the 46. They included, from Doncare, Joan Brownlie, Jenny McMahon, Marilu Packer, Carolyn Burns and Pria Woolston; from the Diamond Valley Railway, Alan Calder and Cherill Thomson, who do a wonderful job and have been doing it for many years on that project; from St Mark's Anglican Church, Judith Cotterill and Rosanne Spry; and, from Rotary Club of Manningham, Anthony and Valerie Fernandez and David Rosenwax. In addition to these, among the winners were Delwyn Caulfield, from the Warrandyte RSL; Jenny Chan, from the Chinese Fellowship of Victoria; Ian Hook, from the Warrandyte Football Club; Anise Khoshmashrab, Babak Missaghi and Amin Riazati, from the Baha'i community; Anastasia Koutsoheras, from Fronditha Care; Violet Lorenz, from the Australian Air League; Scott Lynn, a local community advocate; Ross McDonald, from the Friends of Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Park; Leon Moore; Ian Morris; Parivash Payman; Alicia Privitera; Bob Slater; Eva Sommers; and Meredith Wall. All are very worthy recipients of the 2020 Menzies Community Australia Day Awards.

House adjourned at 20:01