Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to highlight some local legends from the Burt electorate in Perth's south-eastern suburbs. A couple of weeks ago, I was so proud to host the biggest-ever annual Burt Volunteer Awards. Our community is so much kinder, stronger, more vibrant and more connected thanks to the contribution of our volunteers. They really make a difference, and that's why I host these awards every year—to acknowledge the work of our local volunteers, even though they don't do it for the accolades.

In the sports category we had Christine Selwood, Kevin    Brophy and Peter Hanna of the Armadale Junior Soccer Club; James Linton of the Kelmscott Junior Football Club; John Peberdy of the Gosnells Archers; Samantha Saffioti and Tony Sheppard of the Roleystone Junior Football Club; Angus Yarran and Kristian Egan of the Kelmscott Bulldogs Football Club; and Georgia Butler of the Kelmscott Baseball Club. The winner was Ric Batista of the Seville Dragons, a club he built from humble beginnings nearly 10 years ago where he's mentored hundreds of athletes.

In the community services category there was Amy Warwick of the Rotary Club of Armadale; Dale Pekel of All Saints Anglican Church of Gosnells; the 'Armidale Train Guy', Kevin Bradney; Dawn Barker of the Good Samaritans WA; Kylee Plummer of the Kelmscott Bulldogs; Lesley Knox of the William Langford Community House; Natalie Crosswell of the Armadale Business Association; Rachel John of Classic Sounds Orchestra; Mark of Halo Care; and Krystelle Wall of the Gosnells Women's Collective. The winners were Kylie and Joel Burns of Feed It Forward, who have been preparing and distributing food hampers for our community for more than five years.

In the youth category, we had Jennifer Howe of Team Connect WA; Logan Wolfe of the Gosnells Archers; Sama Raoufi of the local Afghan community; and young leader Suhrab Sadat. The winner was Utsav Thapaliya from the Stories Project, who works to foster harmony among diverse communities and advocates for individuals with disabilities.

In the multicultural category, we had Aida Oakdon of the Filipino Australian Health Workers Association and Team Hope; Harry Gill of the Sikh community; Ambika, Jayanthi, Saravanan, Vijayalakshmi and Kanchanadevi of the Valluvan Tamil School; Aryan Malekzadeh of the Afghan Australian Cultural Council; Atul Garg, Eipe Chundamannil and Balli Singh of the Federation of Indian Associations of WA; Father Mehari Tela of the Tigray Holy Trinity Church in Kelmscott; Letty Durkin of the Tigray Orthodox Church in Kenwick; Nasire Koosheshi of the Handelan Iranian Cultural House; and Rajeev Narayanapanicker of the Samskruthi Perth. The winner was Zohal Raoufi, an advocate who has been supporting the Afghan community for over 15 years.

In the environment category, we had Alan Dolphin from Free the Hounds; Andrew Batty of the Byford Community Garden; Jane Skoll of Friends of Banyowla Regional Park; Les Jarvis of the Armadale Gosnells Landcare Group; Margaret Middlemas of the Animal Protection Society of WA; and Michelle Hazelwood of the Darling Range Wildlife Shelter. The winner was Alan Wheatley of the Karrakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre, who's been volunteering in various roles for over 40 years. Finally, we had Mervyn Wilson of the Western Australian 10th Light Horse Organisation, who received a very special long service award for 24 years as a tireless and passionate volunteer. Thank you to all of our volunteers.