Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll begin tonight by noting for the record, following Senator Pratt's contribution, that fuel in Puma petrol stations in Perth on FuelWatch this evening is 139.7, and Puma fuel in Bunbury tonight is 140.7. I don't think that is a dramatic difference. I know that the local federal member for Forrest, Nola Marino, always does a great job of looking out for her electorate with regard to cost-of-living pressures, which this government is doing so much to try and address and which those opposite wish to exacerbate.

But I rise tonight to speak about the Liberal Party candidate for Fremantle, Nicole Robins. Nicole is a remarkable individual, 28 years of age, a high school maths teacher and a science graduate from Murdoch University. At such a young age she has 10 years of experience in local government, and I think that is a remarkable achievement. She's been resident in Fremantle for most of her life and is a great champion of that electorate.

She began her journey into politics in the City of Melville Youth Advisory Council in her teenage years. This inspired her to run for council—I believe at the age of 19—and she has succeeded since then in being elected as a councillor, including to the position of deputy mayor. She sits on the Governance Committee of her local government and on the Financial Management, Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. As I said, she served as acting mayor for a period. This is fabulous experience and is what makes Nicole such a wonderful candidate for the Liberal Party in the seat of Fremantle. She's involved in youth work in the electorate in the City of Melville and volunteers for a youth program. She's also been appointed to the Kardinya Primary School board. Nicole is a great advocate of diversity. She is a great representative for her electorate and would do an absolutely wonderful job if elected to the seat of Fremantle at the next federal election, whenever that may be.

Tonight, in the brief time I have remaining, I also want to note Australia's involvement in the Mars landing earlier today. There was only one Australian involved in this project—a scientist currently working at Curtin University in Western Australia, Dr Katarina Miljkovic. This is quite a remarkable achievement. She worked on the InSight lander which touched down on Mars today. This research obviously expands our outer horizons as a people, and it gives us the chance to understand a completely different world in a way we haven't been able to do before. I congratulate her efforts in working on such a groundbreaking project and wish the Mars lander all success into the future.