Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to take a moment today to talk about one of the privileges of this job, which is meeting extraordinary people doing what they think are ordinary things in local community but are actually quite extraordinary contributions they are making to our community. Last week the city council where I live, the Clarence City Council, did their citizenship awards. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be with them but I did nominate some people for the awards.

I do want to talk about our citizen of the year for 2023, from the Clarence City Council, Lewis Taylor. In 2021, Lewis set a goal of climbing Tasmania's 158 mountains called the Abels in 158 days and raise $158,000 for Cancer Council Tasmania to provide support for Tasmanians who have been impacted by cancer. Lewis' inspiration was his mother, Jane, who had received a second breast cancer diagnosis. The impact of the diagnosis inspired him to do something meaningful. Lewis was successful in achieving his goal of raising $1,000 per Abel, and to date has raised over $164,000 for Cancer Council Tasmania. Lewis showed a commitment of never giving up and demonstrated that, when you believe what you are doing is important, great outcomes can be achieved.

Another nominee was Simon Bailey from the Clifton Beach Surf Life Saving Club, of which I am a patron. Simon gives much of his time and energy to the Clarence community through his passion as captain of the Clifton Beach Surf Life Saving Club and through his work as a local TAFE teacher. He offers mentorship, training and guidance and is always out and about patrolling our beaches over the summer. Simon is always generous with his time and is a great role model for young people in the community.

Then we have of course the Neighbourhood Watch team—Maureen Newman and Stephen Bourke. Maureen and Stephen put a lot of time and energy into helping to keep our community safe. They print and distribute their Neighbourhood Watch flyers and safety information to local communities. They engage with the police, business owners, community organisations, politicians and locals to keep them well connected and informed on safety issues. I hear a lot of concerns in my office from the local community about safety and it is local community members like Stephen and Maureen who are out and about actually making a difference in our local communities. They are great role models for young people and they offer comfort to others with their passion and dedication to improving public safety. These are just some of the citizens that were recognised in our Clarence City Council citizenship awards in my local electorate. I'm sorry I couldn't be there but, as I said, the great privilege of this job is getting to meet great local people doing extraordinary things in local communities.