Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every Australia Day we celebrate our great country, our democratic values, our freedoms, our beautiful landscape and our national character of strength and resilience forged over many years. Significantly, this Australia Day we came together in Mandurah to recognise and welcome our new Australians taking the pledge of allegiance to a wonderful country. I had the pleasure of welcoming 80 new citizens from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities, and it was a delight to, all of us together, sing our national anthem at the conclusion. The ceremony also gave me and many others the opportunity to renew our pledge to Australia. It was a reminder for all of us, whether we were born here or were naturalised after birth, that we owe this country our unwavering allegiance.

This Australia Day I was also honoured to help recognise and celebrate the achievements of cherished members of my local community. I was delighted to see, among the long list of Australians honoured in the 2023 Australia Day honours, Canning residents Lynn Rodgers OAM and John Lawrence OAM recognised for their longstanding service and dedication to our community. Mandurah Primary School Principal Natasha Upcott was awarded the City of Mandurah Community Citizen of the Year. Natasha has taught there for nearly 20 years and has been an industrious and tireless advocate for women's and children's issues, children's education and road safety. Sixteen-year-old Baylee Freitag received the Youth City of Mandurah Community Citizen of the Year Award. Baylee is the junior CEO of Halo Team Mandurah, an organisation that provides critical help and emergency relief for at-risk youth and adults in Mandurah.

Kaye Seeber was recognised as the City of Mandurah's Senior Community Citizen of the Year. Kaye is the founder of WA Mums Cottage, an organisation well known in my local community for providing benevolent relief, guidance and assistance to local mums and children in need. Mandurah Marine Rescue was recognised as the Group City of Mandurah Community Citizen of the Year. Mandurah is surrounded by beautiful and popular waterways, and the team of volunteers at Mandurah Marine Rescue work hard all year round to keep us safe. I understand that so far the team has attended over 160 marine incidents, 150 recoveries and 15 distresses, totalling over 20,000 volunteer hours. Also recognised on Australia Day were Keith Holmes OAM, former mayor of the City of Mandurah, and Stephen Goode, former CEO of the City of Mandurah, who were awarded the title of Honorary Freemen of the City.

Again, I want to extend my most sincere congratulations to all those recognised within our community. Your service and dedication do not go unnoticed, and you are well deserving of the accolades you received. To our new Australians: I hope you are as proud and grateful to live in this great country as I am. Citizenship of our great nation comes with rights and responsibilities. Together we are collaborators in this great and democratic project. Let us all continue to work hard to make Australia the best place to live. (Time expired)