Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a great honour last week to take part in the National Memorial Service for Fire and Emergency Services Personnel. This moving ceremony was an opportunity to remember and commemorate those men and women who have died in the line of duty while fighting fires and responding to emergencies across Australia. The service took place across the lake here in Canberra at one of the lesser-known but no less important memorials on and around Anzac Parade—the National Emergency Service Memorial on Rond Terrace.

The service included the unveiling of a new memorial wall that commemorates those who lost their lives defending our communities. Over 500 men and women are memorialised on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. I encourage all senators and those in the other place to get across to the north shore of the lake and visit it while in Canberra.

I'd also like to acknowledge Paul Baxter, president of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authority Council, and Stuart Ellis, the CEO of the council. We had representatives from right around the country and, in fact, the families of some of those who had lost their lives fighting for life and property in fire and emergency services.

I'd also like to acknowledge Mr Angus Taylor, who was there to officially unveil the memorial wall representing the Prime Minister. It was a great honour to be involved in the ceremony and, once again, I encourage all senators and members to make a visit to the memorial at the earliest opportunity.

A few weeks ago, I was able to take part in the JDRF One Ride in South Australia. It was a ride to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, who invest in research and support for families who have kids with type 1 diabetes. I've gotten to know a lot of families who deal with type 1 diabetes over recent years. It is a very tough and very challenging condition to deal with for a family, particularly with young children.

The work that JDRF does—not just looking for a cure but also supporting families through these difficult times—is incredibly valuable for our entire community. The ride was tough but rewarding, and it was made a bit easier thanks to the generosity of many Canberrans who donated nearly $4,000 to the cause in my name.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those who donated to my ride: Michael Taylor, Lee Gloyne, Ken Kroeger, Yohan Ramasundara, Stephen Sharp, Robert Downie, Martin Gordon, Keith Maxted, Michael Fitzgerald, Craig and Carolyn Jamieson, Lyn Pezzullo, Peter Cain, Anna Topic, Don Harris, Kevin Riley, Sarah McHugh, Michael Hogg, Ian Gardner, Niral Shah, Anthony Cook, Hank and Karen Oerlemans, Steve Butler, Wilhelm Harnisch, Jan Swift, Albert Orszaczky, Andrew Hiebl, Ignatius Rozario, Angela Moyle, Tim Efkarpidis, Craig Edwards, June O'Donnell, John Somerville, Jane Hiatt, Anne Prendergast, Robert and Judith Gunning. Thank you to all of them, and thank you to all those who organised the ride and those who do such great work for JDRF. It is a wonderful organisation that was, very much, founded by families who are dealing with type 1 diabetes. It's a very close-knit community. In recent years, I've been very proud that the Commonwealth has been able to deliver, in a number of ways, supports for people living with type 1. Ultimately, we want to find a cure—that's what these fundraisers are about—so people don't have to continue to deal with what is a very, very difficult condition.

On another issue, earlier in April I was very pleased to help start up a Red25 team with the Canberra Liberals to assist with blood and plasma donation in the ACT. Eighteen life-giving treatments can be made from plasma donations. From protecting kids from chickenpox to treating severe burns victims and treating brain disorders, donated plasma improves quality of life for so many Australians and saves the lives of many others. A brand-new plasma donor centre opened at the beginning of April—only the second of its kind in Australia—collecting only plasma donations. It's an important centre not only to provide more opportunities for Canberrans to donate plasma but also to raise awareness of the importance of plasma donations in Australia.

Shortly after the centre opened I went to visit the new facilities, give a donation and learn about the importance of plasma donations to Australians. The Australian Red Cross Blood Service have declared that the need for healthy plasma donors is greater than at any other time in our history.

The demand for immunoglobulin, a blood product made from plasma and used to treat many autoimmune and infectious diseases, rose by 11 per cent last year, but plasma donations across the country rose by only five per cent. Currently, Australians relying on plasma based treatments are relying on mostly imported plasma. It's important to encourage those Australians who can give to take the time to make an appointment and donate, to decrease our reliance on imports of this life-giving product.

Having visited the centre in Civic, it's a pretty enjoyable process. It's relatively simple and straightforward. It's very similar to giving blood. The centre is very well kitted out, and they look after you very, very well. There's free wi-fi there and food and drinks are available. So it's somewhere people can drop in on the way home from work or in their lunch break, and they would be doing an amazing service for people who desperately need this plasma for all sorts of life-saving treatments.

I'd like to pay tribute to a number of young people. I will be forming a youth advisory council once again this year. In fact, just this afternoon, we'll be having a meeting here at Parliament House. I'm looking forward to talking through some of the big issues that young people care about—issues they want to raise, issues of concern—and hearing from them about how I and others in this place can continue to serve them and continue to serve our young people. Last year on the council the members came up with projects to address some of the problems facing our local community. This year the new council will continue to work by advancing some of the best ideas that came forward. The idea is: they pitch an idea, they look at a community need, they come up with what the problem is, they come up with some solutions and they look at some strategies as to how they might engage the political process or other processes to get a solution. So it's a way of them learning about the political process and public life, but it's also about problem-solving and about community engagement—the idea of working with your community, your local members of parliament, your federal members of parliament or other community leaders to get real outcomes.

We've got a number of impressive young people, some of whom I've met and some of whom I'm yet to meet. I'm looking forward to welcoming them. We've got: Shriya Bellamkonda-Vaka from Canberra Girls Grammar School, Aden Pulford from Gungahlin College, Thu Vu from Daramalan College, Giuseppe Trimboli from St Edmund's College, Ruben Mayenco from St Mary MacKillop College, Maggie Potter from Radford College, Alex Lawton from Melrose High School, Methmi Fernando from Daramalan College, Ethan Raats from Trinity Christian School, Patrick Phillips from Daramalan College, Joshua Dias from Radford College, Jarell Cubarrubia from UC High School Kaleen, Paige Fittler from Amaroo School, Enling Liao from Lyneham High School, Hannah Spinaze from Canberra College, Gian Ojunga from Emmaus Christian School, Kathryn Corner from Emmaus Christian School and Luke Palisi from Marist College.

I apologise for some of my pronunciations. When I meet the young people today I can apologise to them in person and learn how to properly pronounce their names. Can I just say to those young people: it is a great thing to be getting involved in, and it will be a great learning experience. We've got an amazing group of young people here in Canberra. I get to schools right across the sector—both the public and the non-government school sectors—here in Canberra. We've got some amazing schools, and we've got some amazing school leaders. I've seen them right across from the north in Gungahlin to the south in Tuggeranong, to Belconnen to Weston Creek, and to the inner north and inner south. There are some amazing school communities and some amazing school leaders. I very much look forward to working with them.

Civics education is something that I think we need to focus on more in this country. This idea that young people should learn about how parliament works is critically important. Just on that, I will make mention of Tony Pasin, whose electorate I visited just recently. I saw him hold court with a school group of year 7s and do a mock parliament. I've got to say, the member for Barker does it better than anyone I've seen. Tony Pasin is the standout when it comes to running a mock parliament. Congratulations to Tony and all of the young people who've put their hands up for the youth advisory council.