Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to recognise the achievements of an outstanding STEM leader and Griffith resident, Dr Esther Onyango. Dr Onyango is an interdisciplinary systems scientist whose work explores the connection between our environment and human health. By bringing together science, policy and community perspectives, she is helping us better understand the health risks communities face in a changing climate and how we can build a more sustainable and resilient future. In doing so, she is making an important contribution to Australia's response to these challenges. She has received international recognition for her contributions to climate change and health research, being named among the leading African women in climate research. Dr Onyango represents the kind of leadership we need more of in STEM—deeply knowledgeable, community minded, and ready to contribute at the highest levels of decision-making.

I'd also like to acknowledge the valuable work of WILD for STEM, an important program that supports women in STEM not only to excel technically but also to step into leadership and help shape the future of Australian innovation. Through her involvement in WILD for STEM, Dr Onyango was selected as a board observer with the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. I congratulate Dr Onyango for her achievements and the work she is doing, and I acknowledge the important role of programs like WILD for STEM in building the leadership pipeline Australia needs.

On another topic, it was a joy to catch up with Mark, one of our local Griffith residents, at one of the four recent mobile offices that I held this past weekend. We chatted about oysters, an incredibly important species for the health of our waterways. Like many in our community, Mark was shocked when he first learnt that oysters are now functionally extinct in Moreton Bay, a sobering reminder of how much has been lost but also of how much we can rebuild when community science and practical action come together.

I want to recognise the community programs doing incredible work to restore shellfish reefs, including in Moreton Bay, such as the OzFish shellfish reef restoration program. Thanks to initiatives like this, more than 856 tonnes of oyster shells have been diverted from landfill across Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Redlands. These shells are now helping to restore habitat, improve water quality and bring life back to the bay and our reefs. And this work is growing. Under the Reef Trust Partnership, the Albanese government has invested $1.9 million in OzFish to restore oyster reefs and mangroves across Great Barrier Reef catchments. This is just one of the many investments being made through the Community Stewardship Program in the delivery of the Reef 2050 Plan. This is practical environmental action led by communities and delivering real results to protect our marine ecosystems and preserve their beauty for future generations. I thank Mark very much for his advocacy on this issue, even though he gave me an oyster shell—which I placed in my back pocket and then was cursing the rest of the day because I forgot I put it there.