Rotary Club of Hurstville

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-98195

Hansard session: Fifty-Sixth Parliament, First Session (56-1)

Rotary Club of Hurstville

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (13:22:13):

I move:

That this House:

(1)Congratulates the Rotary Club of Hurstville on holding the twenty-second annual Antique and Collectables Fair, which raises money for local and worthwhile causes, from 10 to 12 February 2017.

(2)Congratulates members of the Rotary Club of Hurstville, in particular Dorothy Dixon, who have been involved in organising the event for over 22 years.

(3)Notes that this year money raised would go to the St George Hospital Children's Project.

(4)Congratulates the Rotary Club of Hurstville for its dedication to the community.

The Rotary Club of Hurstville does a great job. I declare an interest, although not a pecuniary interest. My wife, who is probably watching Parliament today on the television, is a member of the Rotary Club of Hurstville and has been for many years. The club has a changeover dinner on Monday at which Jan Gartrell, a very good friend of mine, will be installed as the incoming president for 2017-18. I place on record the great job that Rotary does in my local community. We often talk of the wonderful Lions and Rotary clubs and their success stories in our respective communities.

Both Rotary and Lions are volunteer organisations. They are always the first with their boots on the ground when it comes to disaster relief and helping the community. Through their barbecues, doorknocking appeals and shopping centre tin appeals, they are always the first to raise much-needed funding, whether it is for flood or fire victims or for the local hospital. Over the years the Rotary Club of Hurstville has raised much‑needed funding for St George Hospital. It is doing so at the moment with a program that I am supporting to upgrade the children's playground in the children's wing of St George Hospital. As it is a major project it will take a couple of years for the Rotary Club of Hurstville, with the help of the State Government, to raise the funds. The community is getting behind this project. I am glad that this motion is before the House today.

In May, Fire Station Open Day was held not only in my electorate but also in electorates across the State. Lions and Rotary were both involved. At Mortdale Fire Station, the Rotary Club of Hurstville cooked up a storm at a community barbecue, which was attended by hundreds of people. I attended as the local member and I took my three-year-old son, James, who wanted to see the fire station and to climb into the fire trucks. He absolutely loved it. It was a great open day and it was another example of the great work done by the Rotary Club.

The annual Antique and Collectables Fair is held on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday in February, and every year thousands of people attend and thoroughly enjoy it. The Rotary Club of Hurstville does a great job in raising much-needed funding for many worthwhile community charities and community groups, including breast cancer awareness, St George Hospital, and flood and fire appeals. The community gets behind the club, as evidenced by the thousands of people who turn up to the antiques fair. Those people are not only from the St George area; people come from all over Sydney to attend the antique fair and to be stallholders at the fair.

I declare that I am a telephone collector. I love telephones. For many years I have purchased many wonderful and whacky-looking telephones. Some of them are 10 or 20 years old. I have some that are 60 years old, 70 years old and even 100 years old. It is wonderful that the antique fair has continued for so long—for 22 wonderful years. The fair raises much-needed funding. It is just one of many things that Rotary does in my community, such as raising money for St George Hospital, holding community barbecues and raising money for overseas appeals. Over the years, Rotary has helped single mothers in East Timor through appeals. It is wonderful that Rotary gets behind community events and raises much-needed funding for the community. As I have already mentioned, like Lions, Rotary is always first on the ground when it comes to helping people. It assists not only local charities and organisations but also interstate and overseas charities and groups. Rotary clubs work in every electorate in this State. It was a great honour for me to move this motion today. I invite all members to talk about the Rotary clubs in their electorates and to support the motion.

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy) (13:29:09):

I thank the member for Oatley for bringing this motion to the House. It is lovely to recognise community groups for the hard work and long hours they put into volunteering to make our communities better places. Rotary clubs are certainly important. They provide an international network of business, professional and community leaders who strive to make the world a better place through practical efforts. Rotary members give much of their time and money to make the world a better place—locally and internationally.

I note that the member's motion congratulated Dorothy Dixon, who has organised the Annual Antiques and Collectables Fair for the past 22 years. That is a monumental effort by a dedicated and passionate member. She must be a real treasure to that organisation and devote many days, nights and weekends to making that fair a success. Anyone who comes from that region knows how successful that antiques and collectables fair is. It draws many people from the local community to attend and participate. I agree with the member for Oatley that she should be congratulated on these years of service, as should everyone who helps to make that event possible.

My electorate is serviced by some wonderful and passionate Rotarians. The local Rotary clubs are Liverpool West, Liverpool and Liverpool Greenway. I am thrilled to be able to acknowledge them in this Chamber. I thank the following people for the work they do on the boards of those local Rotary clubs: Rinna Ly, Alvan Freeman, John Pillay, Ted Mlynarz, Gary Halliday, Allan Hall, Joe Cauchi, Bob Groat, Jim Leahy, Geoff Gibbs, Robert Menolotto, Bernard Packer, Shaun Jackson, John Williams, Peter Bach, Margaret Bach, David Pace, Noel Love, Lee Miller, Nick Romeo and Maria Lupica. I must mention one of Liverpool's hardest working volunteers, Mrs June Young, OAM. She recently brought many groups to see the New South Wales Parliament. I believe they had a great day.

I thank Peter Tuziak for showing them around; he gave them a great tour of the Legislative Assembly. I have committed to joining him on his quest to having the mace placed in the Speaker's Square so that all our tour groups can appreciate its beauty, because it is special to this House. All of the abovementioned Rotary members should be congratulated on their hard work and dedication to making our world a better place and for helping to run their clubs. I will pay tribute to some of the programs and projects that these clubs organise. Rotary Liverpool West provides funding to a team of local surgeons who travel to Cambodia each year, performing operations to restore sight, free of charge, for the poorer people of Cambodia.

It must be amazing to be able to bring back people's sight. I am sure that that encourages the Rotarians in their fundraising efforts and the time that they put in. Additionally, the club provides funding to a team led by local surgeons, dentists and other health professionals that travels to Vietnam and surrounding countries each year to perform operations to restore sight and to provide dental treatments and other medical services free of charge for the poor. For both initiatives, members of the club travel with the team at their own expense to provide logistical support.

Rotary Liverpool has supported and funded the repair and maintenance of a preschool in Vanuatu. They also support GROW, which is a community-based organisation that has helped thousands of Australians recover from mental illness. That is a lovely thing to do. I also know that Rotary Liverpool Greenway are working towards organising a brain injury therapy garden at Liverpool Hospital and continue to support the Bali Eye Clinic and local Chipping Norton charity Miracle Babies. Members would have heard me mention Miracle Babies in this Chamber previously. That organisation provides guidance as well as practical support for families with premature babies. It is based in Chipping Norton but acts Australia-wide.

Many of us would have hospitals in our electorates that are serviced by Miracle Babies. I particularly like that Miracle Babies explains to families and friends how to support parents who have had a premature baby but are not able to take them home because the babies need extra time in hospital. The organisation also helps the families of those babies that do not get to go home at all. They help those parents grieve and advise friends and families on how to find the right words to make that time a little easier. I must mention my colleague the member for Heathcote. I know through his Facebook page, and through talking to him, that he gives a lot of his time to his local Rotary club. He regularly devotes very cold Sunday mornings to looking after the barbecue at one of his local fairs to support his electorate. He is also a Paul Harris Fellow.

Mr Lee Evans:

A sapphire Paul Harris Fellow.

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS:

He is a sapphire Paul Harris Fellow; there are not many of those.

Mrs Leslie Williams:

I am another.

Ms MELANIE GIBBONS:

I acknowledge the member for Port Macquarie. I am surrounded by Paul Harris Fellows. What an honour it is for both of them. I note that Mr Temporary Speaker Aplin is a Paul Harris Fellow as well. In this Chamber we are surrounded by special, talented, hardworking people, especially the member for Heathcote, who is a sapphire Paul Harris Fellow. Once again I thank the member for Oatley for bringing this motion to the House and recognising the contribution of our hardworking volunteers to our social fabric.

Mrs LESLIE WILLIAMS (Port Macquarie) (13:36:25):

It gives me much pleasure to join the member for Oatley to praise the fantastic work of his Rotary Club of Hurstville and to commend it for its great work through fundraising events like the Annual Antiques and Collectibles Fair. I know that many members on both sides of this House would understand the important role that Rotary clubs play in our communities, and my electorate of Port Macquarie is no different. As the previous speaker mentioned, I am a proud Rotarian and have been for almost a decade. I note that I am in good company when it comes to being a Paul Harris Fellow. I congratulate the member for Heathcote on his sapphire Paul Harris Fellowship. That achievement is quite incredible. Like all members, I am always busy representing the people of my electorate in this place, but I try to find time to support my local Rotary Club of Laurieton because it does amazing work.

The member for Oatley mentioned that he will be attending a changeover dinner on Monday. In fact, I will also be attending my local Rotary club's changeover dinner. I am privileged to have been asked to perform the Rotary grace and loyal toast. I will also have the opportunity on that evening to induct two new members into our Rotary club—Heather and Nigel Cavanagh. Heather is one of the key players in Charles Sturt University, which is relatively new to Port Macquarie. We are excited that she has chosen to be a member of the Rotary Club of Laurieton. Last year our Rotary club turned 50, and we were able to join together and talk about what had happened in those 50 years since March 1967. Everybody across the community agreed that the club had conducted some amazing initiatives to support the local community and—like all Rotary clubs—to support international initiatives such as the project to end polio.

Over the past 50 years our club has implemented some very significant projects. Since 1967 our club has hosted a Christmas dinner for seniors and people with a disability. We donated a surf rescue boat to the Camden Haven Surf Life Saving Club and in 1986 we oversaw the construction of the $400,000 Kew Information Centre. We should all take note of Rotary's international motto of "Service Above Self" because it highlights what Rotarians are all about: working together to provide service to others in our local communities, across the State and internationally. I congratulate all members who had the opportunity to speak and particularly the member for Oatley on bringing this important motion to the attention of the House.

Mr STEPHEN BROMHEAD (Myall Lakes) (13:40:22):

I thank the member for Oatley for bringing this motion to the House. We should take any opportunity to recognise Rotary clubs and all other service organisations in New South Wales. Without those voluntary organisations our communities would not be as rich and dynamic. We recognise that no government has the money to pay for the number of volunteer hours that these and other service organisations give to New South Wales. I will talk about two or three Rotary clubs today, but I have not forgotten those other clubs that I do not mention. The President of the Forster Rotary Club—which is sometimes known as the Great Lakes Rotary Club—had a dream of an opera concert by the lake. He started a program two years ago to achieve his dream and bring some of the best talent in Australia to Forster.

It was an outstanding success. As a result the Government assisted Rotary this year with a grant of $23,000 to help it stage its second annual Opera by the Lake performance. Opera by the Lake brings people from Sydney, Newcastle, Port Macquarie and other regional centres to Forster. They sit beside the magnificent Wallis Lake and listen to the very best opera singers and musicians from Sydney and other places. This Government believes people from regional areas should have the same cultural opportunities as those in metropolitan areas. This program is absolutely phenomenal and through it Rotary helps to raise money for other charities and organisations by running stalls and other things. We have also obtained a grant of $10,000 for the Forster Rotary Club to install barbecues and enhance the facilities at the Lone Pine Memorial Park. I will meet with them there next week.

The Taree Rotary Club runs the Manning Music Program, which helps the Australian Children's Music Foundation and engages disengaged children in school through music. That program has been running for five years. Yesterday in a speech that had nothing to do with Forster Rotary Club I spoke about Tanya Brown. They have approached her to see whether she would come on board to run the Rotary Schools Spectacular and she agreed. It was a huge amount of work. She was recognised as a Paul Harris Fellow, the highest award in Rotary, for her work. The Taree Rotary Club also runs a book fair at the Taree Markets and the Taree Lions Club markets. Taree Rotary and Taree Lions Club are working together to get a permanent stage on the banks of the mighty Manning River in Taree. They plan to have the stage partially on the bank and partially in the water so that it can cope with the huge floods that they have. It will be a permanent site for concerts and entertainment on the banks of the mighty Manning River. I congratulate the Rotary clubs and I thank them for what they do.

Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (13:44:31):

I thank the member for Oatley for moving this motion that gives us an opportunity to talk about our wonderful Rotary clubs. I am humbled to be a member of the Rotary Club of Macarthur Sunrise as well as the Campbelltown Rotary Club. We need only look around Campbelltown at some of the wonderful events they organise to realise that Rotarians support community events, organisations and people in their time of need. Rotary's pursuit of eradicating polio around the world defines it. These are people who give their time to important issues that affect others. Many Rotarians are not personally affected by polio but they understand that others are, including people on the other side of the globe. At Bunnings in Campbelltown they flip sausages all day to raise money for people around the world. I think that is truly admirable.

Two local events in particular come to mind. I recently attended the Campbelltown Rotary Youth Excellence Awards for Students along with more than 400 staff, teachers, proud parents and many amazing students at West Leagues Club. It was fantastic to be there to acknowledge their wonderful achievements. Campbelltown Rotary Club organised the event to ensure that the students were rightfully acknowledged. The Rotary clubs of Macarthur have organised the Rotary Police Office of the Year Awards, at which our detectives, general duties officers and policing staff are recognised. When I say the Rotary clubs of Macarthur, I mean not only the Rotary Club of Macarthur Sunrise but also the clubs of Narellan, Camden, Campbelltown, Ingleburn and Wollondilly North. They collaborate well to organise these wonderful events.

These groups are fantastic; let us be fair dinkum about it. They bring value to our communities that would not be the same without their contributions in fundraising as well as their unheralded work in comforting people during their time of need. They come together every week to discuss how they can help others. I do not think there are too many more wonderful human attributes than doing something for someone else and giving of your own time. Rotarians across the State continue to do that. I enjoy supporting all our volunteer organisations, particularly Rotary. I was delighted to be able to support them last year in obtaining a Community Building Partnership grant to get a new mobile barbecue so they can get around town, flip sausages and raise money to help other people. "Service Above Self" defines Rotarians and embodies their nature. They serve others selflessly for the enhancement of our society not only in Campbelltown but also around the State. I commend the member for Oatley for bringing this motion to the House.

Mr LEE EVANS (Heathcote) (13:48:43):

I thank the member for Oatley for bringing the Rotary Club of Oatley and all Rotary clubs to the attention of the House. As mentioned, six weeks ago I was recognised for the second time as a Paul Harris Fellow. Rotary is a fantastic organisation and I am proud to be a member of Caringbah Rotary Club. Our changeover is on Monday. I congratulate the outgoing president, Kerry Dineen, and the incoming president, Richard Mason. Through our involvement in the Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children program we have sponsored a child from the Solomon Islands who has a heart defect and arranged home care for him before he went to hospital for an operation. He spent six weeks in hospital after his operation during which time members of the Rotary Club looked after his mother and transported her backwards and forwards to see him every day.

Our rotary club runs Caringbah Community Markets, which raises approximately $160,000 per annum that flows straight back into the community. We are also involved with Ronald McDonald House. One night a month we cook and serve dinner to the occupants so they can enjoy a hot meal without having to prepare it after visiting a loved one in hospital. Another one of our projects is Bowelscan. Richard Merriweather, who was the founding member of the Bowelscan project through Rotary, passed away approximately four weeks ago. His drive to promote the importance of bowel scanning, which is something most people do not like to talk about, was amazing. It is very important to have the checks performed. It is ironic his brother passed away from bowel cancer.

We are also involved in the Cook Community Classic fundraising event in Scott Morrison's electorate of Cook, and we hold a fundraising dinner on the night. We are involved in the eradication of malaria through Rotarians Against Malaria, which gives mosquito nets to people who cannot afford them. The drop in malaria rates once nets are supplied is amazing. Obviously we also organise the Rotary police awards. In addition, we work to eradicate polio in approximately two countries where it is still active. With the help of Rotary, it will be eradicated in our lifetime. I will also speak about Engadine Rotary, my local club. It arranges the Sydney to Wollongong ride to support Father Chris Riley and raises about $200,000 from that event. These are not small things for a band of volunteers to organise. For $200,000 to be raised from a member's idea to host a ride from Sydney to Wollongong is fantastic. I again congratulate the member for Oatley on bringing this motion to the House and I thank him for doing so.

Mr ADAM CROUCH (Terrigal) (13:52:43):

By leave: It gives me great pleasure to speak about my local Rotary club and I also commend the member for Oatley for bringing this excellent motion to the House. As the member for Terrigal, I am extremely privileged to have a number of Rotary clubs in my electorate, all of which make a massive contribution to our community. Only recently I attended the annual United Nations conference run by our Rotary clubs on the Central Coast, where local school students were able to take part in a mock United Nations debate that carries on for a full day. That would not be possible without the contributions of the excellent Rotary clubs in my electorate.

I have to single out the Terrigal Rotary Club as I was privileged to be made an honorary member of that club. It does an outstanding job across my electorate, from raising money for student exchanges to funding polio vaccines. In addition, we have the Erina Rotary Club, which runs a fantastic fundraising event each Christmas. I have to say that last year was the first time that my wife, Jill, and I purchased a live Christmas tree from the Erina Rotary Club. It was an outstanding way to raise money for the local community. We had always had a plastic tree and last year our house smelt like Christmas for the first time. I give full credit to the ladies in the team at the Erina Rotary Club, who do a wonderful job every year. I acknowledge the passion of the Rotary clubs in my electorate in supporting local community groups, organisations, schools and their students through wonderful fundraising opportunities. They are so passionate and so driven to ensure that they are able to support our community. They also recognise leaders in our community. Most recently one of our Rotary clubs acknowledged the Central Coast Cancer Centre and the great job it does in caring for patients across the Central Coast.

There is no field in which Rotary clubs on the Central Coast do not play a role. Once again, I congratulate them on their tireless efforts. I try to attend as many of the Terrigal Rotary Club functions as I can, bearing in mind the constraints of Parliament. Their enthusiasm, drive and passion to protect the community and do their best is a credit to them. Once again I thank the member for Oatley for bringing this motion to the House. He too acknowledges the great work of the Rotary clubs in his electorate, as do I, the member for Myall Lakes and others who have made contributions to this debate. I once again congratulate all Rotary clubs in the electorate of Terrigal. I thank them for their contribution, passion and continued work for all the people of Terrigal.

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (13:57:41):

In reply: I thank members representing the electorates of Heathcote, Terrigal, Holsworthy, Port Macquarie, Myall Lakes and Campbelltown. I acknowledge the support from all members for not just the Rotary Club of Hurstville but also all Rotary clubs across their electorates. The Rotary Club of Hurstville was formed in 1939. Over the years it has done some marvellous work through the Rotary Art Show, the St George Great Train Festival, Life Education, Meals on Wheels and Carols by Candlelight. It has provided amenities buildings across my local community and assisted the Home Nursing Service, Scouts NSW and our local emergency services. Through its more recent Kids at Play project the club is aiming to rebuild the children's ward at St George Hospital. Rotary members do an amazing job. As I mentioned, Rotary is the very first organisation to put boots on the ground to raise much-needed money for charity appeals. The Rotary Club of Hurstville is celebrating 70 years since it was formed. Its members have done a marvellous job since then and will continue to do a marvellous job. I commend the motion to the House.

TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr Greg Aplin):

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.