Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a more positive note here to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding achievements from some of our local citizens in Cairns, Port Douglas, Cooktown, Weipa and the Torres Strait. These individuals have been recognised for their significant contributions to their communities and have been awarded for their excellent efforts through the annual Australia Day Awards.

Starting with Cairns, I'd like to extend my warmest congratulations to Majella Fallon, who has been awarded Citizen of the Year, and to Alannah Giuffrida, who has been awarded the Young Citizen of the Year. Additionally, I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of Hannah Boom, who received Volunteer of the Year, and also to Kushla Phillips, who was highly recommended for that award. James Kerr was also recognised with the Cultural Award, whilst Sebastian Temesi and Edan Mattinson were awarded Sportsperson of the Year and Junior Sportsperson of the Year, respectively.

Moving on to Port Douglas, I'd like to extend congratulations to: Kerry Shepherdson, who was awarded the Citizen of the Year Award; Lewis Marano and Greg Mill, who were awarded the Junior Sports and Senior Sports awards, respectively; and Emily Silverton, who received the Environmental Achievement Award. Gwyneth Dowell and Ellen Ross were also recognised as Young Citizen of the Year and Senior Citizen of the Year, respectively, and Michelle Vladich received the Civic Recognition Award.

In Cooktown, Jean Stephan was awarded Citizen of the Year, and Alec Stemmler received the Young Citizen of the Year Award. Melissa Gunton was awarded Volunteer of the Year, while the Sports Award was awarded jointly to both Corinne Stallan and Makeilla Gibson. The Arts and Cultural Award went to the Black Image Band, and the Environment Award went to my good friends Sue and Tom Shephard, from Artemis Station, for their work with golden-shouldered parrots.

In Weipa, Dan Tonon was recognised with the Citizen of the Year Award, while Tom Hockey was awarded the Young Citizen in the Year Award. Darryl French and Demi de Tournouer were awarded Sportsperson and Young Sportsperson of the Year, respectively. The Community Spirit Award was awarded to the Weipa Rodeo Association.

Lastly, I'd like to acknowledge the achievements of individuals in the Torres Strait. Corey Ward was awarded Citizen of the Year. Natasha Fujii, Dinah Sailor, Hagiga Mosby and Napau Pedro Stephen were all awarded Achievement awards, and Rosie Ware was awarded the Cultural Medallion.

All these individuals, right across Leichhardt, represent the very best of our community, and their achievements have no doubt left profound impacts on their individual communities. I'd like to extend my warmest congratulations to each and every one of them, and I thank them for their continued service and efforts to support their communities. I'm really pleased that those efforts have been appropriately acknowledged.