Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate a number of outstanding locals living right across my electorate of Hume. In the recent Australia Day honours, each one was recognised by their local council for the enormous contributions they made to our communities. In Camden, Kylee Bentham was named Citizen of the Year for her ongoing commitment to volunteer work, Air Force cadet Ebony-Rose Mangion was named Young Citizen of the Year for her service to the 303 Camden Squadron, Melissa Musgrave won the Arts and Culture Award, Group 6 Rugby League Referees won the Sports Achievement Award, and Camden Community Garden and Macarthur Storm Chasers were joint winners of the Community Group Award.

In the Wollondilly shire, there were joint winners for the Wollondilly Citizen of the Year, Peter Fenning and Mark Scambary. Peter has volunteered with the Buxton RFS for the past 40 years, an RFS that saw tragedy during the bushfires several years ago, and Mark served as a police officer in the region for nearly three decades, with a particular focus on helping disadvantaged young people. Wollondilly Community Men's Shed won the Disability Inclusion Award. The Local Hero, Community Group award went to the Bargo Book Group, and Patrick Nellestein was named the Local Hero, Individual. Libby Berg won the Achiever of the Year, Inga Schwaiger is the Environmental Citizen of the Year, and Josh Azzopardi was named the Young Citizen of the Year.

Hilltops Council named some outstanding Boorowa locals as recipients of awards for 2023. Boorowa's citizen of the year was Brendon Shean. The Len & Joan Oxley Memorial Award went to my good friend Judy McGuiness. Belinda Kelly and Danny Flanery won Boorowa Community Landcare Awards. Tom Simson won Senior Sportsperson of the Year. Junior sportspeople of the year were Isabella Piper for the under-18 category and Toby Corkhill for the under-12 category. The Boorowa Roverettes League Tag Team were named Sporting Team of the Year, and Murray Armour was the Clubperson of the Year. Community Awards were given to Gail Grimson, Belinda Hewitt, Tracey Potts, Sue-Anne Corcoran and Margaret Carmody.

In the Upper Lachlan region, there were a number of citizens of the year: Nic Foster, Leona Evans, Terry Lovelock and John Sullivan. The young citizens of the year were Bowen Murray, Ari Stephenson and Jessica Sharman. Sportsperson of the Year was Rona Treloggan. The young sportspeople of the year were Lillian Skelly, Bella Croker and Brea Waters, and the Mayoral Award for Outstanding Efforts was awarded, deservedly, to Macie Wilson.

Finally, in Goulburn Mulwaree, Citizen of the Year went to Jason Broadbent for his wonderful contribution to the Southern Tablelands Football Association, an incredibly robust club in that region. His contribution to soccer more broadly, of course, was part of that. Youth Citizen of the Year went to Tom Skeffington for his outstanding commitment and involvement within the school community. I've personally seen that. The Community Event of the Year was Convoy for Kids Goulburn's Convoy Day, a fantastic local event supporting kids in the Goulburn community.

Junior Sportsperson of the Year, highly commended, went to Costa Toparis, who is getting outstanding results at the young age of 15 in karting and formula racing motorsports. He's over with a major team in the UK right now—he's recently joined Carlin. Junior Sportsperson of the Year, highly commended, also went to Elsie Apps in recognition of her becoming the Australian champion in the national road titles for cycling. I ride regularly with Elsie, and I've got to tell you she is absolutely extraordinary. She was a gold medallist in the New South Wales state championships. Junior Sportsperson Josh Kalozi broke the 110-metre hurdles record and won a gold medal at the Oceania championships. And Senior Sportsperson of the Year went to Ellen Ryan, who, of course, won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games.

We have an absolutely extraordinary region with extraordinary people making amazing contributions. Congratulations to each and every one of you.