Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the great privileges of being in this place is that you get to meet with groups from all around and throughout our community who do incredible work to support our local residents and to help people who, through no fault of their own, are doing it tough. One of those great groups that I had the chance to meet and engage with is called TRACTION. They do some important outreach to engage and empower young people in need. Working across South East Queensland, in Brisbane, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay and Scenic Rim, the group works with kids to give them a safe and inclusive action based environment where they can build their self-esteem and their sense of belonging as a group. Kids who for many reasons might find it hard to connect in regular situations or at school are given projects that they can work through together in small groups. It shifts the focus onto the job at hand, it encourages teamwork and it allows for some great, relaxed one-on-one chats about some of the challenges that they might be facing. They take it in turns to lead the group and do other roles within the group as well, learning leadership skills.

When I got to meet with some of the kids who are in this program, I got to jump on the tools, which was great, at the TRACTION site at Yeronga in Brisbane. The kids were very happy to hand me the sandpaper, which I appreciated, and allowed me to muck in and help with the custom BMX bike that they were building. At that point they were using the sandpaper to strip it down to repaint it. At the end of the 10-week program, each student would have built a custom bike with the help of others, and they get to keep that as something they can show off and be really proud of. I have to say that they were certainly an impressive bunch of kids—and it is an impressive bunch of bikes that they are building.

I was alerted to the TRACTION organisation by Andrew Tuckey, who is a local resident of Ryan and a fierce advocate for this fantastic program. After speaking with him and the founder and CEO Sandy Murdock, I was really blown away by how good this program is. They spoke of their keen interest in using the program to assist kids from defence families. Having the Gallipoli Barracks in my electorate, I know how much this program means to defence families and other families right across South East Queensland. They have been able to continue throughout COVID, which has been great. Throughout 2020 they supported 309 young people across seven local government areas. They had a 97 per cent participation satisfaction rating, which goes to show how much the kids value the work that they are doing.

Governments at all levels, including the federal government, should be supporting this fantastic organisation, including financially, so we can roll this out to more kids who are doing it tough. I really want to take this opportunity to thank Andrew Tuckey and Sandy Murdoch for their stewardship of and passion for the TRACTION program. I will do everything I can to support you. I hope you continue passionately with the program.