Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This month I joined students and one of my state members, Joe Kelly MP, at the Mt Gravatt State High School to celebrate National Tree Day. National Tree Day is Australia's largest community tree-planting and nature care event encouraging Australians to get involved in environmental activities. In Bonner, we are fortunate to have many active groups supporting our environment and wildlife, including in our schools. Mt Gravatt high school is proud to have an active environmental program, which I participated in firsthand. Thank you to the school captains, Jack and Islam, for showing me the ropes and for their leadership and passion for our local environment, and the killer pythons and red frogs at the end of the planting were a very nice touch.

Following the planting, I ran into two of the environmental volunteers at the Mt Gravatt Show, who told me they actually saw a koala that afternoon at the school. It's great that we are securing the koala's future natural environment through our planting. Happy National Tree Day.

This week is also DonateLife Week. The week encourages more Australians to get behind organ and tissue donation, which can afford others a second chance at life. I myself am on the Australian Organ Donor Register, and anyone over 16 can register. It only takes a minute via the DonateLife website.

I know many people in this place, including me, donate blood or plasma, and I wanted to let the chamber know about the work of fellow Queenslander Kate Fisher as a blood donor advocate. Kate is the author of Milkshakes for Marleigh and is a podcaster who shares the survival stories of recipients of blood donations, including that of her own daughter, Marleigh, who will be reliant on blood donors for the rest of her life. I want to thank Kate for the great work of raising awareness she continues to do and for her ongoing advocacy.

We know that four in five Australian say they support donation, but only one in three is registered to be a donor and only one in 30 gives blood. I encourage all members in this place to promote DonateLife Week events and to take some time to register as a donor or perhaps check their registration to see if they are currently a donor. We can all take some time out to donate blood or plasma when we can. It's a small act with life-changing potential.

Today I also want to thank EMILY's List Australia for their support. I am proudly wearing their brooch today. They have been instrumental in getting more progressive women elected to parliaments across Australia. It provides practical support, like campaign training, mentoring and fundraising for women, and candidates who are committed to equity, diversity and reproductive rights. Since its founding, it has helped elect more than 300 women, and it has certainly contributed to the 57 per cent female Labor caucus in this parliament today. Thank you, EMILY's List.