Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today, I would like to congratulate students in my community who have competed at the national WorldSkills competition in Melbourne recently. This is Australia's largest vocational education and excellence competition. It takes place every two years and includes more than 500 tradespeople across 60 different skills, competing over three days on a national stage. It is focused on one thing: giving young Australians access to vocational education and training that measures up on the international stage.

Gold medallists from my community were Dylan Cleaver from Forbes Smash Repairs in Grafton and Ryan Fahey from Casino Plumbing. From the national competition, around 20 people will be selected to train for, and compete in, the international competition. We wish Dylan and Ryan all the best with that. Congratulations to silver medallists Kurt Orlanno from Woodrabbit Kitchens and Designer Cabinets in Ballina and Lestatt Hammond from Glenreagh Bakery—a great effort from both of them. Bronze medal winners were Ashton Pullen and Harrison Crawter. Other competitors included Tim Hall, Zachery Cracknell, Libby Watt and Regan Howard. To even qualify for this competition was an amazing achievement. They've all trained very hard to get there as thousands of people from across the country applied to compete. I congratulate you all for the great effort that you've made.

I would like to acknowledge and congratulate the Woolgoolga Seahorses rugby league team, who made history on the weekend with their first-ever grand final win. This was a fantastic outcome for the club and was very well celebrated. Sam Sinclair said the streets of Woolgoolga were empty when the match was on as everyone had turned up for the game. I congratulate the players: Dane O'Hehie, Izack Smith, Shayde Perham, Sione Fangupo—who was named player of the match; congratulations!—Coen Van Dugteren, Reeyce Sadler, Tyler Murden, Bailey Connor, Joel Collinson, Jake Elphik, Cameron Woo, Bradley Colinson, Michael Curnow, Ethan Duncombe, Callan Tapine and Emanual Sutton. And I congratulate Mark Hay and Chris Seymour, who were the water boys. This is a wonderful story, As I said, it has been a long time coming. There's going to be a celebration this Saturday for the Seahorses. Well done, Seahorses!

I would like to pay tribute to Helen Trustum of Bentley, who is stepping down as coordinator of the Bentley Art Prize after 38 years. She started the prize back in 1985, along with the late Reg Hartley, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bentley Community Hall. Over the years, art sales have helped support the maintenance of the hall, as well as raising thousands of dollars for charity. There's a great competition amongst our local region and more widely to win the Bentley. Thank you, Helen, not only for the work that you've done for the Bentley Art Prize but for the wider community work that you've done for many, many decades. I wish you well.