John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the last sitting week of the Senate on the 20th anniversary of Fred Hollows' death, I spoke about Fred Hollows' life and the work of the foundation that stands in his name. The Fred Hollows Foundation envisages a world where there is no-one who is needlessly blind. It does great work in the prevention and treatment of blindness in 19 countries on three continents—in Australia, Asia and Africa. The foundation has helped restore the sight of more than one million people worldwide and has manufactured over four million intraocular lenses.

In Australia, the Fred Hollows Foundation has done tremendous work in remote Indigenous communities, particularly in the fight against trachoma, or sandy blight—an issue I have spoken about in this chamber on a number of occasions. In 2011, the Fred Hollows Foundation assessed the sight of 416 people and handed out over 1,000 pairs of affordable spectacles to people living in remote communities in the Northern Territory. The foundation is more than playing its part in closing the gap in eye health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

This work could not be done without the strong support of many in our community who share the foundation's objectives. The Sydney Coastrek event has become a vital fundraising vehicle for the Fred Hollows Foundation as well as developing a reputation as a testing and challenging endurance event in its own right. As well as raising funds for the Fred Hollows Foundation, Coastrek aims to promote health and fitness as well as teamwork, mental and emotional toughness and fun.

On a near monsoonal Friday, 2 March this year, a record 2,000 competitors set off from Palm Beach on Sydney's northern beaches, competing in the 2013 Wild Women on Top Sydney Coastrek 50- or 100-kilometre team challenge. The Sydney Coastrek tracks are along the stunning picturesque Sydney coastline from Palm Beach to Coogee. Teams have the option of walking 50 kilometres from Palm Beach to Balmoral or 50 kilometres from Balmoral to Coogee, or the full 100 kilometres from Palm Beach to Coogee. It is a challenging course across the soft sand of ocean and harbour beaches, steep climbs and descents along headlands and cliff tops, creek crossings, rugged bush trails, suburban streets and through built-up areas.

I have no idea why, but after competing in last year's 50-kilometre Coastrek event from Palm Beach to Balmoral, held in miserable Sydney weather on waterlogged tracks, I was one of those competitors who came back for the full 100 kilometres of punishment this year

Our team, Achilles 100, comprised totally blind walker Ben Phillips, whose achievements in long distance walking, including his drenching along with me in last year's Coastrek, are well known to senators; elite Wild Women on Top global trekkers Wanda Nicholson and Genevieve Savill; and yours truly.

We made it across the finish line after the 100-kilometre slog in a very commendable 33 hours and 6 minutes, with Ben becoming the first totally blind walker to complete the 100-kilometre Sydney Coastrek. So congratulations Benny. He keeps chalking up the records and half killing me in the process. I am delighted to inform the Senate that, as of just a few minutes ago, the 2013 Wild Women on Top Sydney Coastrek had raised a record $1,772,746 for the crucial work of the Fred Hollows Foundation, exceeding its target of 1.7 million and smashing last year's record of $1.06 million. I do want to acknowledge the great work of Wild Women on Top, who coordinate this event for the Fred Hollows foundation. To Di Westaway, Lisa Marshall and all those in the Wild Women on Top team I simply say we certainly could not have finished without your help and many disadvantaged people are going to benefit from your great commitment to such an important cause.

Tonight I also want to acknowledge the efforts of Bec Herringe from the Lunachicks team. Bec is with us in the chamber and is very well known to all senators as one of our great team of Senate chamber assistants. Perhaps it is less well known that Bec is also a fanatical walker who, with her team—the well-named Lunachicks—finished the 50-kilometre Coastrek from Palm Beach to Balmoral in 15 hours and 54 minutes. So sincere congratulations to Bec and her team. To Wanda, Genevieve and all our fantastic support crew, I just say again that the Achilles 100 team could not have done it without you. They really are unsung heroes.

Benny Philips and I will be lacing up our boots again next month as part of the Tigers/True Believers Oxfam Trailwalker Team in the 2013 100-kilometre Melbourne Oxfam Trailwalker event. My colleague Anthony Byrne MP and his fantastic staff and very supportive volunteer crew will again be helping the Tigers compete in Melbourne, where we hope that Benny can break his world record for a 100-kilometre nonstop Oxfam Trailwalk.

I invite anybody who would like to make a donation to Oxfam and their vital work—and of course our team—that they can do so by visiting the Oxfam Trailwalker website and searching for Tigers/True Believers or visiting our online team space directly at the following website. I am going to impress everybody in the chamber with my knowledge of these things by having inserted in the Hansard this website, and here we go. This is a first! It is: trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/team/home/14157. I think that a lot of people will donate just having heard me try to present a website address in the Senate tonight! Congratulations again all of those who were involved in the Sydney Coastrek, all those involved with Wild Women on Top and the Fred Hollows foundation. This is a fantastic event, and it will mean a big difference to a lot of disadvantaged people around the world.

Senate adjourned at 19:27