Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like all members in this place, I do enjoy the opportunity to speak at my local schools on occasion. Among the key messages that I like to pass onto students is just a little reminder that you should never sell yourself short and never forget where you came from. I want young Gippslanders to be able to achieve their full potential in their chosen field and never to think for a second that a kid from a country town can't achieve great things in their life and do something if they just work hard and put their mind to it. And, in saying that, it brings me to a young Australian who has just been named the Australian women's cricket captain across all three forms of the game: Sophie Molineux from Bairnsdale. Sophie was born and raised in Bairnsdale. She played her first cricket as a 10-year-old alongside her father Mark, and she has been a member of the national team since 2018. But the journey for Sophie hasn't been that easy. She has sustained serious injuries during her cricket-playing career which have curtailed her opportunities to play at an international level. So I can say with great pride and great authority on behalf of all Gippslanders how excited they are to see Sophie Molineux selected as the Australian women's cricket captain across all three forms of the game. This is a young lady who has never given up, and she's never forgotten where she came from.